Construction and validation of a marital quality of life questionnaire for couples with women with endometriosis

Abstract

Endometriosis is a chronic pelvic disease, characterized by the presence of tissue similar to the endometrium in ectopic sites. Although a prevalence of 10% of women in menacme is estimated, this is a very underdiagnosed disease, with a latency of about 7 years between the onset of symptoms and the definitive diagnosis. The most common clinical condition combines symptoms such as chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, deep dyspareunia and infertility. The quality of life of women with endometriosis is profoundly impacted by the symptoms of the disease, which denotes the importance of focusing scientific studies on the biopsychosocial field of this pathology. Higher rates of anxiety, depression, absenteeism and presenteeism are verified in these women, as well as the negative repercussions on their social relationships, especially their intimate relationships. Having the degree of her pain constantly delegitimized by her social circle, women with endometriosis suffer from isolation and lack of understanding, and within an intimate relationship, pain implies another challenge, deep dyspareunia, which implies a reduction in the quality of the woman's sexual life, in view of the pain during sexual intercourse and the consequences arising from this symptom, such as the feeling of guilt, fear of pain and avoidance of having intercourses again. However, women's intimate relationships are affected by factors other than dyspareunia, such as family planning, effective communication about the couple's sexuality and sexual problems faced, financial repercussions of the disease, daily difficulties caused by endometriosis. Hence, since partners within a marital relationship are identified as a valuable source of support for women with endometriosis, it is important to focus on this patient's biopsychosocial field. Thus, the objective of this study is to build an instrument that assesses the quality of marital life of couples in which the woman has endometriosis, and to validate the quality of analysis of the psychometric properties of the questionnaire prepared by a committee of judges. For this, a questionnaire will be applied to the selected population, whose questions relate to. Therefore, it is expected to overcome the lack of standardization of analyzes on the marital relationship of patients with endometriosis and to encourage the greater development of projects that highlight the impact of this disease on the quality of life of women.