What is the societal burden of endometriosis-associated symptoms? A prospective Belgian study

Sarah Klein, Thomas D'Hooghe, Thomas D’Hooghe, Christel Meuleman, Carmen D. Dirksen, Carmen Dirksen, Gerard Dunselman, Gerard A.J. Dunselman, Steven Simoens
Reproductive biomedicine online · 2013 · vol. 28(1) , pp. 116–124 · doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2013.09.020 · PMID:24268732 · W1984583125
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This study found that annual costs for Belgian women with endometriosis averaged €9872, with 75% due to productivity loss, and a diagnosis delay of two years was common.

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This prospective Belgian cost-of-illness study evaluated diagnosis delay, comorbidities, healthcare resource use, treatment patterns, costs, and quality of life in 134 women with endometriosis seen at a tertiary care center, using questionnaire-based data. The median diagnostic delay was 2 years after symptom onset, and almost all participants reported at least one comorbidity; total annual costs per patient were €9872, with productivity loss accounting for 75% of total costs, and hospitalizations, surgeries, infertility treatments, pain, and anxiety increasing costs significantly. Over a 1-year time horizon, patients generated an average of 0.82 quality-adjusted life years, reflecting quality-of-life impairment compared with perfect health. The study’s main limitation as stated is its focus on a single tertiary center population captured via questionnaires, which may not reflect all patients broadly, and relevance to endometriosis-associated symptoms was evaluated through this cohort. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it quantifies the societal and economic burden of endometriosis-associated symptoms, including healthcare use, productivity loss, and quality of life.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a complex disease that affects a large number of women of reproductive age and imposes a significant burden on patients and society. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnosis, comorbidities, healthcare resource use, treatment patterns, costs and quality of life of women with endometriosis seen in a Belgian tertiary care centre. A total of 134 patients were included in a prospective questionnaire-based cost-of-illness study. Patients were diagnosed after a median delay of 2 years after onset of symptoms. Almost all patients reported having at least one comorbidity. Total annual costs per patient were €9872 (95% confidence interval €7930–11,870), with costs of productivity loss representing 75% of total costs. Hospitalizations, surgeries, infertility treatments, pain and anxiety increased total costs significantly (P ⩽ 0.001). Patients generated an average of 0.82 QaLY over a 1-year time horizon. This study showed that direct and indirect costs attributable to endometriosis-associated symptoms are substantial. Earlier diagnosis and cost-effective treatment of endometriosis may decrease productivity loss, quality of life impairment and healthcare consumption and consequently reduce total costs to patients and society. Endometriosis is a complex disease that affects a large number of women of reproductive age and imposes a significant burden on patients and society. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnosis, comorbidities, healthcare resource use, treatment patterns, costs and quality of life of women with endometriosis seen in a Belgian hospital centre that specializes in endometriosis. A total of 134 patients were included in a prospective questionnaire-based cost-of-illness study. Patients were diagnosed after a median delay of 2 years after onset of symptoms. Almost all patients reported having at least one other disease in addition to endometriosis. Total annual costs per patient were €9872, with costs of productivity loss representing 75% of total costs. Hospitalizations, surgeries, infertility treatments, pain and anxiety increased total costs. Patients generated an average of 0.82 quality-adjusted life years over a 1-year time horizon, implying that their quality of life was 18% lower than perfect health. Our study showed that costs attributable to endometriosis-associated symptoms are substantial. Earlier diagnosis and cost-effective treatment of endometriosis may decrease productivity loss, quality of life impairment and healthcare consumption and consequently reduce total costs to patients and society. | Original language | English | |---|---| | Pages (from-to) | 116-124 | | Number of pages | 9 | | Journal | Reproductive Biomedicine Online | | Volume | 28 | | Issue number | 1 | | DOIs | | | Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2014 |

Keywords

- comorbidities - costs - endometriosis - quality of life - resource use - treatment - WOMEN - DIAGNOSIS - PREVALENCE - DELAY - COST - INFERTILITY - PAIN Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'What is the societal burden of endometriosis-associated symptoms? A prospective Belgian study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this - APA - Author - BIBTEX - Harvard - Standard - RIS - Vancouver

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Comorbidity Cost of Illness Endometriosis Endometriosis Quality of Life Belgium Belgium Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Prevalence Prospective Studies Statistics, Nonparametric Surveys and Questionnaires

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