Background:
Most women with Uterine Leiomyomata (UL) attribute various negative experiences
in their lifetime to symptoms related to UL such as: abnormal uterine bleeding,
various pressure symptoms and pelvic pain. Most of the research on UL examined the
efficacy of treatment modalities, but only few researchers have addressed the
impact of the disease on the women’s Health- Related Quality of Life (HRQL).
Methods:
This is a descriptive, prospective, hospital-based qualitative study. The data
was collected by: Focus Group (FG) interviews and by structured questionnaire.
200 women with symptomatic UL were recruited over a period of 6 months. The
data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) data
analysis tool, Version 20.
Results:
The majority of women (98%) graded their symptoms as moderate or severe. The
mostly affected group are those in the reproductive age (20 to 39 years). 69%
of the employed women claimed that the disease has affected their work and 55%
of them reported UL as a reason for their absence from work. 27.2% of all women
think that the disease has moderately restricted their social and physical
activities, whereas 66.4% think the impact on their work is severe. 28.3% of
all women think that their sexual life was moderately dysfunctional because of
the disease and 52.2% think the effect was severe. 36.8% and 61.6% of all women
reported moderate to severe psychological concerns respectively, such as: the
sensation of fear, feeling of unfairness, and discouragement.
Conclusions:
Uterine leiomyomata are a common health concern for women in the child-bearing
age. Symptomatic UL has apparently a negative impact on: women HRQL, sexual and
social lives and it appears to affect their work performance. There is no
significant correlation between the women symptoms and type of employment;
however, the study is suggestive of a possible positive correlation between the
women severity of symptoms and: social activities, energy, mood, sense of
control, and sexual function.
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