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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1382067

Partnership and relationship happiness in endometriosis related chronic pelvic pain: a multicenter case-control study

Provisionally accepted
Samia El Hadad Samia El Hadad 1Alexandra Kohl Schwartz Alexandra Kohl Schwartz 2Clarissa Gassner Clarissa Gassner 1Felix Haeberlin Felix Haeberlin 3Stephanie Von Orelli Stephanie Von Orelli 4Patrick Imesch Patrick Imesch 5Brigitte Leeners Brigitte Leeners 1*
  • 1 Clinic for Reproductive Endocrinology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2 Department of Reproductive Medicine, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
  • 3 Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen, St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • 4 Triemli Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 5 Clinic for Gynecology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Partnership is an important resource in dealing with endometriosis related chronic pain. Hence, our objective was to assess partnership in the context of endometriosis and its symptoms, considering the perspectives of both individuals involved.The study was designed as a multi-center matched case-control study in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Altogether 381 women with surgically/histologically confirmed endometriosis and 381 control women, 250 male partners of endometriosis-affected women and 229 of control women were evaluated. Partnership quality, partnership happiness, separation thoughts, and areas of conflict were evaluated through the Partnership Questionnaire and a validated list of conflict areas.Results: Quality of partnership was rated as high by 60.1% of the women with endometriosis and 66.7% of the control women, as well as by 45.8% and 50.2% of their respective partners. Women with endometriosis mentioned separation thoughts, mostly related to sexual satisfaction, more often (34.9%/28.3%) and experienced more partnership-related conflicts than control women. Chronic pain, dyspareunia, dissatisfaction with sexuality, fatigue, and infertility were significantly associated with partnership conflicts. Fatigue and infertility but not pain experiences were related to lower partnership quality. Male partners in both groups reported separation thoughts equally often. In men, a high intensity of pain experienced by their partner was associated with reduced partnership happiness.Given the significance of partnership in dealing with chronic diseases and the connection between symptoms of endometriosis and a decrease in partnership quality, it is essential to incorporate strategies that alleviate the negative impacts on relationships for both partners into medical support.

    Keywords: Endometriosis, Chronic Pain, Dyspareunia, Dysmenorrhea, Partnership, SEPARATION

    Received: 04 Feb 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 El Hadad, Kohl Schwartz, Gassner, Haeberlin, Von Orelli, Imesch and Leeners. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Brigitte Leeners, Clinic for Reproductive Endocrinology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.