“A challenge” – Healthcare professionals' experiences when meeting women with symptoms that might indicate endometriosis
Abstract
Objective The aim of the study was to identify and describe the experiences of healthcare professionals when meeting women with symptoms that might indicate endometriosis.Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 gynecologists, six general practitioners and nine midwives working at one university hospital, one central hospital, one private gynecology clinic and five healthcare centers in south-east Sweden. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative conventional content analysis.Results Three clusters were identified: the corroborating encounter, the normal variation of menstruation cycles, and the suspicion of endometriosis. The healthcare professionals tried to make a corroborating encounter by acknowledging the woman, taking time to listen, and giving an explanation for the problems. Healthcare professionals had different ways to determine what was normal as regards menstrual pain, ovulation pain and dyspareunia. They also needed to have the competence to act and react when the symptoms indicated endometriosis.Conclusions Meeting women with symptoms that might indicate endometriosis is challenging and demands a certain level of competence from healthcare professionals. Sometimes the symptoms are camouflaged as "normal" menstruation pain, making it hard to satisfy the needs of this patient group.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Diagnosing endometriosis, particularly by physicians who are not gynecologists, remains a challenge.
“However, diagnosing endometriosis, particularly by physicians who are not gynecologists, remains a challenge.[6]”
From Scar endometriosis presenting as a painful abdominal mass (2020) · cites this paper as [6]
Cites
Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732305276687 · Cited by 44,601 · see citing works
Qualitative research and evaluation methods
Patton, M. Q. (1980) · Cited by 35,637 · see citing works
ESHRE guideline: management of women with endometriosis
Dunselman, G. A. J., Vermeulen, N., Becker, C., Calhaz-Jorge, C., D'Hooghe, T., De Bie, B., Heikinheimo, O., Horne, A. W., Kiesel, L., Nap, A., et al. (2014) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/det457 · Cited by 2,211 · see citing works
Ballard, K., Lowton, K., & Wright, J. (2006) · Fertility and Sterility · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2006.04.054 · Cited by 628 · see citing works
Delay in the diagnosis of endometriosis: a survey of women from the USA and the UK
Hadfield, R., Mardon, H., Barlow, D., & Kennedy, S. (1996) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.humrep.a019270 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Diagnostic delay for endometriosis in Austria and Germany: causes and possible consequences
Hudelist, G., Fritzer, N., Thomas, A. E., Niehues, C., Oppelt, P., Haas, D., Tammaa, A., & Sälzer, H. (2012) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/des316 · Cited by 493 · see citing works
Ballard, K., Seaman, H., De Vries, C., & Wright, J. (2008) · BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology · doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.01878.x · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Depressive symptoms, anxiety, and quality of life in women with pelvic endometriosis
Sepulcri, R. D. P., & Amaral, V. F. D. (2009) · European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2008.09.003 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
The community prevalence of chronic pelvic pain in women and associated illness behaviour.
Zondervan, K. T., Yudkin, P. L., Vessey, M. P., Jenkinson, C., Dawes, M. G., Barlow, D. H., & Kennedy, S. H. (2001) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Diagnostic delay in women with pain and endometriosis
Husby, G. K., Haugen, R. S., & Moen, M. H. (2003) · Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0412.2003.00168.x · Cited by 298 · see citing works
The impact of endometriosis upon quality of life: a qualitative analysis
Jones, G., Jenkinson, C., & Kennedy, S. (2004) · Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology · doi:10.1080/01674820400002279 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
A life shaped by pain: women and endometriosis
Huntington, A., & Gilmour, J. A. (2005) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2005.01231.x · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Depression in women with endometriosis with and without chronic pelvic pain
LORENÇATTO, C., PETTA, C. A., JOSÉ NAVARRO, M., BAHAMONDES, L., & MATOS, A. (2006) · Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1080/00016340500456118 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Focus group study of endometriosis: Struggle, loss and the medical merry‐go‐round
Cox, H., Henderson, L., Andersen, N., Cagliarini, G., & Ski, C. (2003) · International Journal of Nursing Practice · doi:10.1046/j.1440-172x.2003.00396.x · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Grace, V. M., & Zondervan, K. T. (2004) · Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1111/j.1467-842x.2004.tb00446.x · Cited by 164 · see citing works
The impact of endometriosis on work and social participation
Gilmour, J. A., Huntington, A., & Wilson, H. V. (2008) · International Journal of Nursing Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1440-172x.2008.00718.x · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Learning to take charge: women's experiences of living with endometriosis
Cox, H., Henderson, L., Wood, R., & Cagliarini, G. (2003) · Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery · doi:10.1016/s1353-6117(02)00138-5 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Fauconnier, A., Staraci, S., Huchon, C., Roman, H., Panel, P., & Descamps, P. (2013) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/det310 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Ballard, K., Lane, H., Hudelist, G., Banerjee, S., & Wright, J. (2010) · Fertility and Sterility · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.164 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Attitudes of women with chronic pelvic pain to the gynaecological consultation: a qualitative study
Price, J., Farmer, G., Harris, J., Hope, T., Kennedy, S., & Mayou, R. (2006) · BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology · doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2006.00862.x · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Endometriosis and the primary care consultation
Denny, E., & Mann, C. H. (2008) · European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology · doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2007.10.006 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Endurance and contest: women's narratives of endometriosis
Marković, M., Manderson, L. H., & Warren, N. (2008) · Health An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine · doi:10.1177/1363459308090053 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Coping with emotions and abuse history in women with chronic pelvic pain
Thomas, E., Moss-Morris, R. E., & Faquhar, C. (2005) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.04.011 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Lag time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of endometriosis
Santos, T. M. V., Pereira, A. M. G., Lopes, R. G. C., & Depes, D. D. B. (2012) · Einstein (São Paulo) · doi:10.1590/s1679-45082012000100009 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Scar endometriosis presenting as a painful abdominal mass
Hsu, S.-D., & Chen, L.-Y. (2020) · Gynecology and Minimally Invasive Therapy · doi:10.4103/gmit.gmit_74_18 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Grundström, H., Kjølhede, P., Berterö, C., & Alehagen, S.
- Affiliations
- Linköping University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Grundström, Hanna
- Venue
- Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-03
- Volume
- 7
- Pages
- 65-69
- ISSN
- 1877-5756 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2193917506
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 0.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Endometriosis Research and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gynecological conditions and treatments
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Keywords
- endometriosis, health professionals' experiences, gynecologists, general practitioners, midwives, patient encounters, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, professional competence
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Delivery of Health Care, Dysmenorrhea, Dyspareunia, Endometriosis, Female, Gynecology, Humans, Male, Menstruation, Middle Aged, Nurse Midwives, Ovulation, Physicians, Professional Competence, Professional-Patient Relations, Sweden, Pelvic Pain
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
