BMC Women's Health最新文献

{"title":"Perspectives on fertility preservation among women living with breast cancer in Ghana.","authors":"P E Sefogah, D A Attah, A Swarray-Deen, J Nsaful, S A Oppong, C A Moyer","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03963-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03963-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>As advanced-stage breast cancer is increasingly diagnosed among women of reproductive age, treatment involving gonadotoxic chemoradiation could compromise fertility. Fertility preservation (FP) offers breast cancer survivors the opportunity to have biological children following cancer treatment. However, in Ghana, little is known about the lived experience of women with breast cancer and their access or barriers to FP services. This study explored the knowledge, attitudes, and challenges regarding FP among Ghanaian women undergoing breast cancer treatment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using a qualitative design approach, we explored the FP perspectives and experiences of women undergoing breast cancer treatment at an Oncology & Radiotherapy Centre in a tertiary hospital in Ghana. Participants were purposively selected following ethical approval. The women's experiences were captured through semi-structured interviews, audio-recorded concurrently and subsequently transcribed for analysis. Using thematic analysis, key themes and patterns were identified and documented to reflect the women's perspective on FP.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In all, 15 patients participated, aged 32-49 years, mostly with basic education and majority diagnosed with breast cancer within 5 years. Participants' knowledge and awareness about FP was limited. FP was considered unpopular, secondary to cancer treatment and a redundant option based on participants' fertility or parity history. While participants perceived FP as a viable way to safeguard fertility, they expressed religious beliefs, financial constraints, affordability, and insufficient success stories on FP may inhibit its uptake in Ghana. Conversely, participants argued that adequate education about FP and its benefits, and subsidized cost of care could enhance its uptake.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The burden of cancer care, lack of awareness and testimonials, religious beliefs, and financial constraints constitute significant barriers to FP uptake among breast cancer patients in Ghana. Emphasizing FP during pre-treatment counselling aligns with patients' rights to this knowledge and holds prospects to increase uptake.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"409"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12382290/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Education, economic autonomy and digitalization as factors associated with married women's ability to make sexual and reproductive health decisions in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-level analysis of 16 countries.","authors":"Turnwait Otu Michael, Kammila Naidoo","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03944-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03944-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Despite progress in various aspects of women's rights and health, a significant gap persists in the area of reproductive health decisions among women in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the interplay between educational access, economic autonomy, and digital systems on the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes of married women in the Sub-Saharan African context.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Leveraging cross-sectional data obtained from the latest demographic and health surveys conducted across 16 Sub-Saharan African nations between January 2015 and December 2021, the study's focus centred on 67,437 married women. Through the utilization of binary logistic regression, model-adjusted odds ratios accompanied by a 95% confidence interval were calculated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Compared to their counterparts in Benin, married women in Madagascar (aOR = 4.95, 95% CI = 4.29-5.71) and Uganda (aOR = 3.42, 95% CI = 2.99-3.90) exhibited the highest levels of agency in making SRH decisions among the 16 countries studied. Factors like higher education (aOR = 2.37, 95% CI = 2.13-2.64), familiarity with modern contraception (aOR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.99-5.13), utilization of mobile phones for financial transactions (aOR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.14-1.28), possession of a bank account (aOR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.10-1.25), current employment (aOR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.08-1.32), and engagement with the internet (aOR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.08-1.24) were found to significantly influence SRH decisions-making across all countries.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Enhancing the sexual and reproductive health outcomes of married women in Sub-Saharan Africa necessitates targeted efforts, particularly among those without higher education, limited contraceptive knowledge, reliance on mobile phones for financial transactions, without bank accounts, lacking internet access, and currently unemployed. By addressing these specific areas, interventions can be more effective in bridging the existing gaps in SRH decision-making among married women in this region.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"407"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12379305/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influencing factors on bone mass abnormalities in Tibetan adult females from a socioeconomic perspective.","authors":"Peng Wang, Jing Zhang, Ke Chen, Huai-Chang Zhong, Yu-Fei Zhang, Ya-Xi Zhou, Hua Chun, Hai Xiong","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03955-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03955-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Socioeconomic status significantly impacts bone health. Higher rates of abnormal bone mass in Tibetan women with lower socioeconomic status may be due to limited health services and unhealthy lifestyles. This study explores the current status and influencing factors of bone mass abnormalities in Tibetan women from a socioeconomic perspective, aiming to inform prevention and treatment strategies.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 640 Tibetan adult females were randomly selected from six counties including Gaize County by multi-stage stratified random sampling method. The χ2 test and logistic regression method were used to analyze the current status of bone mass abnormalities and its influencing factors in Tibetan adult women.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 640 Tibetan adult females, 499 cases (78.0%) had normal bone mineral density and 141 cases (22.0%) were in the abnormal bone mass group. Last year's household income level, last year's medical expenditure level, literacy level, and stroke were the influencing factors for abnormal bone mass.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study focuses on investigating the influence of socioeconomic factors on bone mass abnormalities in Tibet for adult Tibetan women. The plateau environment constrains socioeconomic development and also impacts the occurrence and progression of diseases. Furthermore, socioeconomic factors themselves significantly influence disease patterns. Therefore, examining disease etiology from the unique perspective of socioeconomic determinants is particularly meaningful. Regarding this specific condition, efforts within Tibet should focus on raising public awareness through health campaigns and carrying out a preliminary screening of diseases using simple screening tools, especially in remote areas. This is essential to achieve the goals of early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment. Additionally, attention must be paid to the interplay between this disease and other plateau-related health conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"410"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12382087/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental heavy metal exposure and altering anti-Mullerian hormone levels in women.","authors":"Zahra Namvar, Anoushiravan Mohseni-Bandpei, Abbas Shahsavani, Akbar Eslami, Maryam Mousavi, Fatemeh Shokri Dariyan, Philip K Hopke, Fereidoun Azizi, Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03952-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03952-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Serum levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), a key indicator of ovarian aging, decrease with age. This decline may be accelerated by genetic and environmental factors. Accordingly, the present study investigates the relationship between serum AMH concentrations and exposure to heavy metals.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cohort study was conducted on 220 women with a median age of 42 years (Range: 37-45). Participants were reproductive-age women from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) that met our inclusion criteria. Serum concentration of heavy metals - including lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) and chromium (Cr) - as well as AMH levels, were measured using stored samples from the second and fifth follow-up visits with a time interval of approximately 10 years. A multivariate linear regression model was used to assess the relationship between AMH and heavy metals, adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, age at menarche, education, marital status and parity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results indicated that serum AMH concentration in women classified within the fourth and third quartiles of Cu was reduced by -0.43 (95%CI: -0.73, -0.13) ng/ml and - 0.34 (95%CI: -0.65, -0.03) ng/ml, respectively. No statistically significant associations were observed between AMH levels and other heavy metals, including Pb, Al, and Cr (P > 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest a possible link between elevated Cu levels and diminished AMH concentrations in reproductive-age women. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings and to elucidate the underlying factors, particularly in younger age groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"404"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12374403/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Risk prediction models for stress urinary incontinence after pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Bi Jun Yu, Hao Chong He, Li Wang, Han Mei Shao, Ying Min Liu, Xiao Ying Yan, Jian Liu","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03972-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03972-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"405"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12374354/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of exercise on menstrual symptoms: a randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Merve Koçak, Ömer Şevgin","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03940-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03940-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Menstrual symptoms are a prevalent and frequently encountered woman's health condition. This study aimed to examine the effect of exercise on menstrual symptoms, sleep quality, fatigue, and physical activity levels.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial between September 2023 and December 2023. The study included 54 women aged 18 to 45 years. The participants were allocated to the exercise or the control group using simple randomization with a sealed envelope method. All participants were evaluated with the Menstrual Symptom Questionnaire (MSQ), the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ), the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ) before and after treatment. The control group did not receive an exercise program. The exercise group received strengthening, flexibility, and balance exercises. A moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and walking program was implemented at least three days per week. The study spanned three menstrual cycles for each woman and lasted an average of 12 weeks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Within-group analysis showed a significant decrease in MSQ (p=0.001), MDQ (menstrual) (p=0.002), FSS (p=0.003), and PSQI (p=0.001) scores after exercise. In contrast, the IPAQ score increased significantly in the exercise group p=0.001). In the control group, a significant decrease was observed only in the MDQ (intermenstrual) score (p=0.915). A comparison of the pre-treatment and post-treatment changes in the exercise and control groups revealed a significant decrease in MSQ (p=0.001), MDQ (menstrual) (p=0.023), and PSQI scores (p=0.001) and an increase in IPAQ scores (p=0.001) in the exercise group compared to the control group. However, the decrease in MDQ (pre-menstrual and intermenstrual) (p=0.626^, p=0.348) and FSS scores (p=0.102) were not statistically different between the groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In conclusion, exercise can decrease the menstrual symptoms in women with menstrual symptoms as a primary outcome. Second, exercise can also increase their sleep quality. Therefore, it can be employed as a non-pharmacological adjuvant method to help women manage their symptoms.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>The protocol is registered with http://clinicaltrials.gov/ (17/August/2023, Clinical Trial, NCT06006507).</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"406"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12374421/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quality of counseling for self-administering injectable contraception: field evidence from mystery client interactions in Lagos, Nigeria.","authors":"Sneha Challa, Calvin Chiu, Ayobambo Jegede, Ivan Idiodi, Mikail Aliyu, Chioma Okoli, Shakede Dimowo, Aminat Tijani, Awawu Grace Nmadu, Rodio Diallo, Jenny Liu, Elizabeth Omoluabi","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03946-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03946-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Self-injection (SI) of subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) is a self-care intervention (drugs, diagnostics, or devices that can be provided mostly outside the health system) implemented across Nigeria. Per national guidelines, first-time DMPA-SC users can obtain units for SI after two in-person training visits. Success of self-care interventions, the option for SI included, depends on local policies and individual providers to create an enabling environment. Thus, we aimed to 1) assess providers' fidelity to Ministry of Health protocols; 2) assess the extent of bias in fidelity; and 3) to asses client-centeredness.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Eight mystery client actors portrayed an older, married woman or a younger, unmarried woman without DMPA-SC experience. They sought contraception, including DMPA-SC for SI, at 30 public and 30 private facilities. A total of 120 interactions were planned (two per facility-one by each profile). Immediately following their interactions, actors completed a debrief survey about their experiences. Using responses from these debrief surveys, we described key actor-reported outcomes (providers' fidelity to Ministry of Health protocols for SI dispensing, SI training, and supporting contraceptive decision-making). We also examined objective and subjective client-centeredness outcomes. We assessed bias in fidelity and client-centeredness through bivariate tests for differences by actor profile (younger/unmarried vs older/married) and facility type (health facility vs pharmacy/PPMV).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Fidelity to dispensing guidelines (i.e., refusing DMPA-SC units for SI) differed by facility type (χ² = 12.4, p-value < 0.001). Descriptively, pharmacists/PPMVs more often broke with protocol and were willing to dispense DMPA-SC units. Similarly, fidelity to Ministry of Health training guidelines on DMPA-SC for SI differed by facility type (χ² = 9.9, p-value = 0.007). Client-centeredness outcomes (e.g., being asked about and feeling treated differently based on age and marital status) were found to differ by actor profile. Descriptively, more of the younger, unmarried profile actors reported these outcomes compared to older, married profile actors.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Willingness to dispense DMPA-SC for SI differed by facility type but not by client profile. However, younger, unmarried profile actors experienced more scrutiny from providers. These findings indicate a need for clarifying service provision protocols to ensure an enabling environment for women's access to and use of self-injectable contraception.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 Suppl 1","pages":"399"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12369023/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attitudes of women towards uterus transplantation in Turkey: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Elif Balkan Kuru","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03943-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03943-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Uterus transplantation represents a viable option for women suffering from uterine factor infertility, offering the prospect of conception and motherhood. As techniques and procedures continue to develop, uterus transplantation is expected to become increasingly important and commonplace. The purpose of this study was to evaluate women's attitudes towards uterus transplantation in Turkey.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This population-based survey study conducted via online questionnaires to 189 women between March and August 2023. The \"Attitudes Towards Uterus Transplantation Questionnaire\" was used to collect the data. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the women, 54.0% had heard of uterus transplantation, but 74.1% of them did not know that it was legally performed in Turkey. The options supported by women were assisted reproductive treatments (95.8%) or adoption (86.8%), rather than uterus transplantation (60.8%). Surrogacy was the least supported method of having a child (20.1%). Around half of the women did not want their relatives to know if they were uterus recipients (51.3%) or donors (48.1%). The best donor was thought to be an anonymous donor (52%). The mean score given by women for their attitudes towards uterus transplantation was 7 out of 10, on a scale of 0 to 10.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Although women's attitudes towards uterus transplantation were good, their awareness and knowledge of the procedure were quite low. This lack of awareness or negative attitudes meant that some of the women were hesitant about uterus transplantation. It is suggested that awareness be raised among women regarding uterus transplantation as a potential solution for those desirous of conception, particularly those encountering difficulties in conceiving.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"402"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12369243/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relationship between smoking and marital adjustment & social support among women with spouses experiencing alcohol/substance use disorders.","authors":"Gozde Alkan, Duygu Altin, Gorkem Yararbas, Hur Hassoy","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03947-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03947-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Women's smoking is a serious and growing problem worldwide. Determining the variables related to smoking to stop this increase is important for the protection of women in special groups with psychological and social risks such as dependent relatives. It was aimed to determine the smoking use of women with dependent spouses and its relationship with marital adjustment and perception of social support.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The research is a cross-sectional study. Population of the study consists of 1.500 women who are the spouses of men with the diagnosis of alcohol/substance use disorder and alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The population was calculated with a 20% prevalence 4% margin of error and a 95% confidence interval, and the sample size was 306. The research was carried out between November 2019 and July 2021. Statistical significance level was accepted as P < 0.05. Chi-square Test was used in the analysis of categorical data. Logistic Regression Analysis was used in multivariate analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The spouses of 250 people experiencing alcohol or substance use disorder were included in the study. The coverage of the research is 81.7%. Smoking frequency of women is 65.2%. In bivariate analysis, women's smoking was found to be statistically significant with the variables of spouse's addiction type, age, longest place of residence, educational status, history of chronic disease, need for mental support, and presence of hobbies(p < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, it was observed that each unit increase in age, social support score and marital adjustment score was associated with 1.08 (95% CI: 1.01-1.15), 1.35 (95% CI: 1.18-1.55) and 1.12 (95% CI: 1.00-1.12) times increase in smoking risk, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this study, two out of three women with spouses experiencing alcohol/substance use disorder were found to smoke. It has been determined that the risk of smoking is high in women whose spouses have substance use disorder, have a high education level, have a chronic illness, need mental support, do not have a hobby, have a low perception of social support, and have an incompatible marriage. High rate of smoking in this population indicates need for preventive studies with people experiencing alcohol/substance use disorder and their relatives. In addition, it would be beneficial to develop smoking cessation programs with cognitive-behavioral interventions and that strengthen psycho-social support systems in addition to pharmacological treatments.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"403"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12372376/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"It's like your body is fighting against you\": a cross-sectional qualitative interview study of quality of life in U.S. Black women diagnosed with endometriosis.","authors":"Whitney S Rice, Melanie Dakwa, Sofia Filippa, Ashi Parikh, Subasri Narasimhan","doi":"10.1186/s12905-025-03942-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03942-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological condition that significantly affects quality of life in an estimated 10-15% of women of reproductive age, yet Black women in the United States remain underrepresented in endometriosis research, limiting the potential for application of innovation and discovery. This study addresses this critical gap in the literature by exploring the quality of life experiences of U.S. Black women with endometriosis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using a cross-sectional qualitative design, this study collected data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 Black women aged 18-45 diagnosed with endometriosis from September-October 2021. Participants were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling through online platforms. Interviews explored the physical, psychosocial, and healthcare-related dimensions of quality of life, as well as perceptions of self-advocacy and resilience, and were video and audio recorded on Zoom and transcribed verbatim. Thematic data analysis was employed to generate themes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants were regionally diverse, with most (44%) from the South and most (69%) were diagnosed by a medical professional. Five major themes emerged: (1) debilitating physical symptoms (blood clots, constipation, urogenital pain, etc.), (2) psychosocial impacts including emotional distress, social isolation, and altered self-perception, (3) complex and often negative healthcare navigation experiences, (4) the dual burden and empowerment of self-advocacy and resilience, and (5) lessons learned and calls to action for improved care.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study offers a novel and nuanced sense of Black women's quality of life with endometriosis, including the intersecting physical, emotional, and structural factors that shape their experiences, and the deepened sense of strength and agency developed though them. The findings underscore the urgent need for culturally responsive, patient-centered care and consideration of Black women's voices in recommended pathways for future endometriosis research and more equitable clinical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":9204,"journal":{"name":"BMC Women's Health","volume":"25 1","pages":"401"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12369043/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144943557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}