How endometriosis is affecting the careers of women entering middle age

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-07-08 14:01

International

Sasun Bughdaryan

While endometriosis is linked to more sick days and difficulty working, it is not linked with early retirement or higher unemployment, according to international research. Researchers studied nearly 4000 women in Finland at age 46, including about 350 with endometriosis, measuring their work ability and sick, disability and unemployment days. After two years, women with endometriosis averaged 10 more sick days than women without the condition, and generally scored lower on a questionnaire designed to measure work ability. The researchers found no link between the condition and unemployment in those two years, and no evidence of a higher rate of early retirement when following up with the women at age 52.

Media release

From: Wiley-Blackwell

How does endometriosis influence women’s work life?

In women in their mid-40s to early 50s, endometriosis—a condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus—was linked with poor work ability and more sick days, but not with unemployment or early retirement.

The findings, which are published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica and stem from a population-based group of Finnish women across all employment sectors, provide insights on how endometriosis can impact women’s professional lives.

“To our knowledge, this is the first general population–level study on the association between endometriosis and work ability, including a life course approach to disability retirement,” the authors wrote.

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Journal/
conference: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Oulu University Hospital, Finland

Funder: The study was funded by The Academy of Finland (315921, 321763), Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, The Finnish Medical Association and Ahokkaan Säätiö. NFBC1966 received financial support from University of Oulu Grant nos. 65354 and 24000692, Oulu University Hospital Grant nos. 2/97, 8/97 and 24301140, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs Grant nos. 23/251/97, 160/97, 190/97, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki Grant no. 54121, Regional Institute of Occupational Health, Oulu, Finland Grant nos. 50621, 54231 and ERDF European Regional Development Fund Grant no. 539/2010 A31592.

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