Skip to main content

Incidence Rate of First Live Birth Lower for Women With Endometriosis

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 -- Women with a subsequent surgical diagnosis of endometriosis have a significantly lower incidence of first live birth and lower fertility rate, according to a study published online July 4 in Human Reproduction.

Ada Tuominen, from Helsinki University Hospital and the University of Helsinki, and colleagues conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study involving women with surgical verification of endometriosis in 1998 to 2012. The final cohort included 18,324 women with endometriosis (6,384 with isolated diagnosis of ovarian; 5,789 with peritoneal; 1,267 with deep endometriosis) and 35,793 matched reference women. The incidence rate (IR) and incidence rate ratio (IRR) of first live birth before surgical verification of endometriosis were calculated.

Overall, 40.2 and 66.3 percent of women with and without endometriosis, respectively, delivered a live born infant before the index day (surgery). The researchers found that the IRs of the first live birth per 100 person-years were 2.64 and 5.21 in the endometriosis and reference cohorts, respectively. The IRs were similar between the endometriosis sub-cohorts. For first live birth, the IRR was 0.51 between the endometriosis and reference cohorts; IRRs did not differ between the endometriosis subcohorts. Per parous woman, the fertility rate before surgical diagnosis was 1.93 and 2.16 in the endometriosis and reference cohorts, respectively. The median age at first live birth was 25.5 years for both women with endometriosis and reference cohorts; surgical diagnosis of endometriosis occurred at a median age of 35.0 years.

"Endometriosis seems to affect parity years before its eventual diagnosis," the authors write. "The impairment of fertility among women with endometriosis should be minimized by offering relevant treatment for endometriosis without delay."

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, May 17-19

The annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was held from May 17 to 19 in San Francisco and was attended by more than 4,000 clinicians...

Epidural Analgesia Linked to Decline in Severe Maternal Morbidity

FRIDAY, May 24, 2024 -- Epidural analgesia during labor is associated with a reduction in severe maternal morbidity (SMM), according to a study published online May 22 in The...

Prenatal Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Affects Child's Metabolic Health

FRIDAY, May 24, 2024 -- Prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is associated with adverse metabolic health in children, according to a study published online...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.