Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Centre for Emotional Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
Int J Behav Med. 2023 Aug;30(4):543-554. doi: 10.1007/s12529-022-10118-1. Epub 2022 Sep 8.
Endometriosis is a chronic reproductive disease manifesting in physical symptoms including pain, abdominal swelling, altered bowel and bladder function, and fatigue. These symptoms potentially threaten body image regarding subjective perceptions of functional, appearance, and sensory aspects of one's body. The aim of this study was to qualitatively understand how endometriosis impacts on affective and perceptual aspects of body image.
Participants (N = 40) were recruited through endometriosis consumer organizations. In an online survey, participants completed demographic and health history questions, then provided written narratives about body image-related impacts of their endometriosis in response to open-ended questions. These data were thematically analyzed using the template approach.
The majority of participants (M = 28.3 years) were employed part-time, diagnosed on average for 4.2 years, and reported pelvic pain and bloating, fatigue, and nausea symptoms. Thematic analysis yielded three themes including My Body is a Barrier, Needing to Hide Myself, and Body as Healer and Teacher, all of which reflected affective and perceptual aspects of body image.
These findings highlight wide-ranging body image-related impacts of endometriosis, suggesting the need for targeted interventions to address these concerns.
子宫内膜异位症是一种慢性生殖系统疾病，其临床表现为疼痛、腹部肿胀、肠道和膀胱功能改变以及疲劳等症状。这些症状可能会影响到患者对身体的主观感知，包括身体的功能、外观和感觉等方面。本研究旨在从定性角度了解子宫内膜异位症如何影响身体意象的情感和感知方面。
通过子宫内膜异位症消费者组织招募参与者（N=40）。参与者在线完成人口统计学和健康史问题后，根据开放式问题提供关于子宫内膜异位症对其身体意象影响的书面叙述。使用模板方法对这些数据进行主题分析。
大多数参与者（M=28.3 岁）为兼职就业，平均诊断时间为 4.2 年，报告有骨盆疼痛和肿胀、疲劳和恶心等症状。主题分析产生了三个主题，包括“我的身体是一种障碍”、“需要隐藏自己”和“身体是治疗者和老师”，这些主题都反映了身体意象的情感和感知方面。
这些发现强调了子宫内膜异位症对身体意象的广泛影响，表明需要针对这些问题进行有针对性的干预。
