| Summary: | Abstract Endometriosis is a chronic, benign gynecological disorder affecting 6–10% of women. It is defined by the presence of endometrial tissue outside of the uterine cavity. Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent condition manifesting as early as adolescence in many cases. On the other hand, the disease symptoms tend to diminish at menopause due to ovarian aging and a lowered effect of estrogen. Clinical manifestations of endometriosis are pain, infertility, and fatigue. Altogether, endometriosis causes considerable burden and decreases quality of life in affected women during their reproductive years. Although earlier studies on endometriosis-related health aspects have been conducted on reproductive-aged women, research on the effect of endometriosis on women’s health during late fertility is comparatively lacking. The aims of this study were to investigate the association between endometriosis and body size from birth up to 46 years of age, to assess pain sensitivity and severity among women with endometriosis at late fertile age as well as the association between endometriosis and non-gynecological comorbidities. Furthermore, work ability and attachment to working life in women with endometriosis at late fertile age were also examined. The study population was derived from the Northern Finland Birth Cohorts 1966 (NFBC1966) with data linkage to several national registers. The results showed that endometriosis was associated with lower body weight and leaner body figure at reproductive age but not in childhood nor in adolescence. At late fertile age, a significant association between lean body size and endometriosis was shown only in cases of peritoneal endometriosis, but not in other subtypes. The results of pain sensitivity analysis showed that still at late fertile age, women with endometriosis had 5.5% lower pressure pain sensitivity and 5.3% lower pressure pain tolerance, and they also had more widespread and disturbing pain, than women without endometriosis. Women with endometriosis were shown to have ...
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