Abstract
Endometriosis, menorrhagia, chronic pelvic pain, and polycystic ovary syndrome are
major sources of psychologic morbidity and can negatively affect quality of life.
Although comparative studies have been published on the measurement of health-related
quality of life for gynecologic malignancies, a similar review for these benign gynecologic
conditions has not been conducted. Consequently, we searched the literature systematically
to identify the impact of symptoms and treatments for these conditions on health status
and to report on the types and psychometric properties of the instruments used. Papers
were retrieved by systematically searching 6 electronic databases and hand-searching
relevant reference lists and bibliographies. Forty-six studies used a questionnaire
to measure health status: 34 studies (74%) used standardized instruments; of these,
23 studies (68%) used generic tools. Although a meta analysis was not possible, it
appears that women with chronic pelvic pain and conditions that are associated with
pelvic pain (such as endometriosis) report worse health-related quality of life. Despite
the development of disease-specific questionnaires, only 2 questionnaires were generated
from interviews of patients with the condition of interest, and few questionnaires
are being used to evaluate the outcomes of treatment on subjective health status.
(Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;187:501-11.)
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 13,
2002
Received in revised form:
December 18,
2001
Received:
September 7,
2001
Footnotes
☆Reprint requests: Georgina Jones, DPhil, Institute of General Practice & Primary Care, Community Sciences Building, Herries Road, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, S5 7AU United Kingdom; E-mail: [email protected]
Identification
Copyright
© 2002 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
