Uterine fibroids can trigger a tremendous amount of fear and can affect the workplace performance reveals the results published by a recent study that conducted a study among over 1000 females in US.
The results of this study were published in the issue of American Journal of Obstetrics and in this month’s issue of Gynecology and the Journal of Women’s health. These findings throw light on the concerns about the treatment, prevalence and impact of this medical condition related to uterine fibroids. This condition affects over 80% of women who are above 50 years of age.
Gynecologic surgeon and lead author at Mayo Clinic, Elizabeth A. Stewart, MD said that they conducted this survey in order to have a better understanding about the needs of women suffering from fibroids and their experience with it. She also added that many people are not aware of the fact that most of the women are affected by uterine fibroids at least once in their life and it can trigger significant morbidity for females who are prone to it.
The survey made an assessment about the diagnosis, behavioral pattern, their attitude owing to infertility, its effect on work and the treatments they preferred amongst the women who were battling this condition within a period of 9 years or more.
The research revealed that women usually delayed the treatment for this condition for about 3.6 years while 32% of women prolonged for even 5 years or over. Many women expressed that they were afraid regarding the uterine fibroids. About 79% said that they had the fear that their fibroids would grow while 55% said that feared whether they would need a hysterectomy.
There were other fear factors too such as sexual function, relationship, hopelessness, body image and loss of control. 66% of women said that they missed work owing to the symptoms associated with this condition while 24 % responded that this illness prevented from achieving success in their career. Majority of women opined that they wanted a treatment that had minimal invasive procedure.
The study also revealed that this condition has a threefold increase among African – American women. These women also opined that this condition made a lot of interference with their relationships and other physical activities.
