NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Reprod Fertil. 2022 Jun 30;3(3):C29-C39. doi: 10.1530/RAF-22-0003. eCollection 2022 Jul 1.
Endometriosis is a common yet under-recognised chronic disease with one in nine (more than 830,000) women and those assigned female at birth diagnosed with endometriosis by the age of 44 years in Australia. In 2018, Australia was the first country to develop a roadmap and blueprint to tackle endometriosis in a nationwide, coordinated manner. This blueprint is outlined in the National Action Plan for Endometriosis (NAPE), created from a partnership between government, endometriosis experts and advocacy groups. The NAPE aims to improve patient outcomes in the areas of awareness and education, clinical management and care and research. As researchers and clinicians are working to improve the lives of those with endometriosis, we discuss our experiences since the launch of the plan to highlight areas of consideration by other countries when developing research priorities and clinical plans. Historically, major barriers for those with endometriosis have been twofold; first, obtaining a diagnosis and secondly, effective symptom management post-diagnosis. In recent years, there have been calls to move away from the historically accepted 'gold-standard' surgical diagnosis and single-provider specialist care. As there are currently no reliable biomarkers for endometriosis diagnosis, specialist endometriosis scans and MRI incorporating artificial intelligence offer a novel method of visualisation and promising affordable non-invasive diagnostic tool incorporating well-established technologies. The recognised challenges of ongoing pain and symptom management, a holistic interdisciplinary care approach and access to a chronic disease management plan, could lead to improved patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs.
Endometriosis is a chronic disease where tissue like the lining of the uterus is found in other locations around the body. For the 830,000 people living with endometriosis in Australia, this often results in an immense burden on all aspects of daily life. In 2018, Australia was the first country to introduce a roadmap and blueprint to tackle endometriosis in a nationwide coordinated manner with the National Action Plan for Endometriosis. This plan was created as a partnership between government, endometriosis experts and advocacy groups. There are several other countries who are now considering similar plans to address the burden of endometriosis. As researchers and clinicians are working to improve the lives of those with endometriosis, we share our experiences and discuss areas that should be considered when developing these national plans, including diagnostic pathways without the need for surgery, and building new centres of expertise in Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain.
子宫内膜异位症是一种常见但未被充分认识的慢性疾病，在澳大利亚，每九名女性（超过 83 万人）和那些被指定为女性的人中，就有一人在 44 岁之前被诊断患有子宫内膜异位症。2018 年，澳大利亚成为第一个以国家协调方式制定路线图和蓝图来解决子宫内膜异位症问题的国家。该蓝图概述于国家子宫内膜异位症行动计划（NAPE）中，该计划由政府、子宫内膜异位症专家和倡导团体合作制定。NAPE 的目标是改善意识和教育、临床管理和护理以及研究领域的患者预后。由于研究人员和临床医生正在努力改善子宫内膜异位症患者的生活，我们讨论了自该计划启动以来的经验，以突出其他国家在制定研究重点和临床计划时需要考虑的领域。从历史上看，子宫内膜异位症患者面临的主要障碍有两个方面；首先，获得诊断，其次，诊断后有效控制症状。近年来，人们呼吁摆脱历史上公认的“金标准”手术诊断和单一提供者专科护理。由于目前没有用于子宫内膜异位症诊断的可靠生物标志物，因此专门的子宫内膜异位症扫描和结合人工智能的 MRI 提供了一种新的可视化方法，同时也是一种结合了成熟技术的有前途的经济实惠的非侵入性诊断工具。持续疼痛和症状管理、整体跨学科护理方法以及获得慢性病管理计划的公认挑战，可能会改善患者预后，同时降低医疗保健成本。
子宫内膜异位症是一种慢性疾病，其组织如子宫内层在身体其他部位被发现。对于澳大利亚的 83 万名子宫内膜异位症患者来说，这通常会给日常生活的各个方面带来巨大的负担。2018 年，澳大利亚成为第一个引入路线图和蓝图，以国家协调的方式全面应对子宫内膜异位症的国家，这是国家子宫内膜异位症行动计划（NAPE）的一部分。该计划是由政府、子宫内膜异位症专家和倡导团体合作制定的。现在，还有其他几个国家正在考虑类似的计划来解决子宫内膜异位症的负担。随着研究人员和临床医生努力改善子宫内膜异位症患者的生活，我们分享我们的经验，并讨论在制定这些国家计划时应考虑的领域，包括无需手术的诊断途径，以及在子宫内膜异位症和盆腔疼痛方面建立新的专业知识中心。
