Women's preferences for endometriosis treatment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessing women’s preferences for treatment of recurrent endometriosis
IRAS ID
255644
Contact name
Graham Scotland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 25 days
Research summary
Endometriosis is a common gynaecological condition, characterized by symptoms such as pelvic pain, painful periods and subfertility. Studies have found endometriosis to have a significant impact on the quality of a woman’s life. There are two main methods of treatment – either through surgery, including laparoscopic surgery or radical surgery, or through medication, which includes a range of hormonal treatments.
Despite treatment, endometriosis symptoms often recur in most women, making retreatment necessary. At retreatment stage, women once again can choose between surgical or medical treatment. The trade-off that women face is between the risky and expensive surgery, which treats pain and has no effect on fertility, and hormonal medication, which treats pain, but diminishes fertility during the course of treatment.
The objective of this study is to understand the treatment pathway for endometriosis from the perspective of women with recurrent endometriosis. We specifically want to understand what trade-offs they face when selecting a treatment at this stage. The proposed study will conduct qualitative interviews with 10 to 15 women to identify latent themes that explain women’s perception and valuation of endometriosis treatments. Insights from the qualitative interviews will be used to develop a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to assess the trade-offs that women are willing to make in treatment choice.REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/2228
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion