Process of Adjustment in Spontaneous Premature Ovarian Insufficiency
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Exploration of Young Women’s Process of Adjustment in Spontaneous Premature Ovarian Insufficiency: A Grounded Theory Study
IRAS ID
279681
Contact name
Sophie Banat
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London Metropolitan University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 7 days
Research summary
Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) is the decline of ovarian function before the age of 40 (Cooper et al., 2011). Prevalence rates of POI can reach 3-6% of women between the age of 12 and 40 and for the majority of cases, no known cause will be found. This is referred to as spontaneous or idiopathic POI and can be a life-changing diagnosis with profound physical and psychological consequences (Webber et al., 2017).
Despite recent medical progress in understanding underlying causes of POI and an increase in gynecological treatments (Maclaran & Panay, 2015), the majority of cases remain unexplained and spontaneous (Tucker, Groer, Bachelot, Touraine & Sinclair, 2016). These cases have demonstrated higher levels of distress, anxiety and social isolation (Dirkzwager; Verhaak, 2007).
Current studies have focused on the experience of women diagnosed during their late
twenties to early thirties, whereby fertility is of paramount concern at that stage of their lives (Mann et al., 2012). It is recognized that these cases are the most complex due to the ambiguity and unexplained nature and calls for further understanding of the ‘psychosocial transition’ involved in adjustment to their condition and formulation of a new paradigm of thinking about the POI (Cooper et al., 2011) as its nature if different from early menopause.The study aims to obtain rich accounts from young women regarding their condition and to analyze them to produce a substantive theory of the experience. The objective of which is to explain and describe how these women respond to the condition of spontaneous POI.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NW/0250
Date of REC Opinion
14 Aug 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion