General Information

• 176 million women worldwide suffer
• 1 in 10 women suffers from endometriosis with endometriosis.
• Endometriosis impacts on all aspects of a woman’s life; it is not just the physical symptoms she has to deal with, but also financial, relationship, emotional and mental health aspects. (Ballard, K. Lowtan, K. Wright, J. 2006)
• There is a delay in diagnosis of between 7 and ten years.  This is due to girls and women normalizing symptoms as well as doctors normalizing symptoms when women do finally seek medical assistance. Early diagnosis and treatment reduce the long term impacts of endometriosis and frequency of invasive treatments and fertility treatments. Raising awareness is the first step to reducing the delay in diagnosis across all age groups. Education about menstrual health, what is normal and what is not is vital in younger age groups to break the current cycle of delay in diagnosis and flow on affects for the next generation (Ballard, K. Lowtan, K. Wright, J. 2006 & Dessole, M. Benedetto Melis, G., Angioni, S., 2012)
• The average cost per woman per year from endometriosis was calculated in a study across ten countries. The key points from that study were as follows;
o Alarmingly the average delay in diagnosis is seven years (also the estimated figure for Australia).
the severity of the stage of endometriosis did not reflect the severity of the symptoms
o Quality of life was impacted by symptoms, the main culprit being pain. It impacted on productivity levels at work as well as non-work related activities including, housework, exercise relationships, child caring, shopping and study.
the average cost of endometriosis per woman per year
• Total=€9,579  (≈$12,094.25AUS)
• Lost work productivity=€6,298 (≈ $7950.28AUS)
• Direct health care costs=€3,113 (≈ $3929.70AUS)
o The cost of endometriosis reaches further than the personal costs for a woman with endometriosis. It has a wider impact on the community. Lost productivity is twice the cost than the direct health care costs to a woman with endometriosis. This study doesn’t include the cost to a countries health system.
(Endometriosis Research Foundation Global Study of Women’s Health Consortium.)