Health-related quality of life in individuals with endometriosis and mental health symptoms: A scoping review

Individuals with endometriosis present a high prevalence of mental health symptoms, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, which may contribute to lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to determine the association between mental health symptoms and HRQoL in individuals with endometriosis. Seven databases were queried with the search strategy. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the population examined included people with endometriosis and mental health symptoms. All studies were screened and data synthesized by a minimum of two reviewers. The findings are reported narratively. Of the 10,847 records identified, five were included in this scoping review. A cross-sectional study found a moderate correlation between worse HRQoL and both depressive symptoms (r = −0.54, p < 0.001) and anxiety symptoms (r = −0.60, p < 0.001). Similarly, two small cross-sectional studies found a correlation between depressive symptoms and worse HRQoL (r = 0.701, p < 0.01; r = 0.515, p < 0.01), and between anxiety symptoms and worse HRQoL (r = 0.546, p < 0.01; r = 0.295, p < 0.01); these correlation coefficients are positive as this study utilized a scale in which a higher value indicated worse HRQoL. A larger cross-sectional study found that both depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with a greater number of endometriosis symptoms. A recent cross-sectional study found that the HRQoL score was significantly higher (indicating worse HRQoL) in individuals with endometriosis with any of the six types of mental health symptoms considered than in those without mental health symptoms, 96.47(±28.37) and 72.41(±29.43) respectively (p < 0.001). The results of this scoping review suggest that depressive and anxiety symptoms negatively impact HRQoL in people with endometriosis. Further research in this field is required, and future studies should aim to report standardized outcomes that can be statistically assessed.