Impact of Endometriosis on work productivity and quality of life: a survey from Italy.

Endometriosis, usually called as "cancer of the career-woman", is being recognized as a “social disease” for its prevalence and its debilitating impact on young women, leading to a high socio-economic burden of the disease. This study was performed from January 2011 to January 2013 at the Department of Gynecological, Obstetrics and Urological Sciences (Sapienza University of Rome, Sant’ Andrea Hospital) in order to assess the impact of endometriosis-related symptoms on work productivity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Anonymous questionnaires were administered individually to a total of 254 women with surgically diagnosed endometriosis. The questionnaires consisted of three sections: Patient Health Survey (SF-12), the Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-5), and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Survey (WPAI). Our results confirm that endometriosis has a significant impact on work productivity and HRQoL of affected women, leading to high economic burden and huge costs to society. Therefore it is time to make serious investments in researchers, in order to achieve a precocious diagnosis of the disease and to improve the treatment of this debilitating condition.