Biopsychosocial Assessment of Endometriosis-Associated Pain

Thesis Title: Biopsychosocial Assessment of Endometriosis-Associated Pain
Women (18-49 years) with and without Endometriosis are assessed for the biological and psychosocial contributors to chronic pelvic pain.
The biological aspects are assessed with neuro-psychophysical testing. The aim is to build a somatosensory profile detailing the changes in sensory function in women with and without endometriosis.
The psychophysical aspects are assessed with self-reported instruments. These questionnaires detail the physical, emotional, cognitive and self-belief contributions to pain severity in women with and without endometriosis.
The women with endometriosis are further assessed for the influence their emotions, cognitions and self-belief have on the functional abnormalities observed in their somatosensory profile and the severity of their pain.

Chapter 7 Results: Psychosocial aspects of Chronic Endometriosis-Associated Pain
This study only focusses on women; 15-49 years, suffering from chronic pelvic pain associated with endometriosis; may also experience dysmenorrhea (painful periods).
Please include studies that investigated the bio-psychosocial aspects of chronic pain in relation to the points outlined above; namely female and pelvic pain.
Please include references from last 5 years to keep it contemporary.
More references than provided here will be required.
Thank you.
Section 7A and 7B; need 5 pages in total, please;
Needs to be a story line that runs through all the section and sub-sections, even though they each focus on a different aspect of the story:
The overall story is that chronic pain is the result of the dynamic contribution of biological and psychosocial factors. Modulation of the psychosocial factors can influence the biological factors. Those with better psychosocial functioning have less pain severity.

Note: biological contributors: underlying disease, general physical functioning, activity interference
Psychosocial contributors: emotional, psychological and cognitive behaviour
Section 7A Chronic Pain and Emotion; need 2.5 pages in total for this section; including the sub-sections, below
Chronic pain is often accompanied by psychological and emotional distress.
Wesselmann U et al 1998; Uterine inflammation as a noxious visceral stimulus: behavioural characterization in the rat
Anxiety; need 0.75 page
Finding from this study:
Women with endometriosis experience anxiety levels similar to those age-matched individuals experiencing chronic pain and higher than the non-endometriosis women and general population.
References should reflect this finding.
Keogh E and Mansoor L 2001; Investigating the effects of anxiety sensitivity and coping on the perception of cold pressor pain in healthy women
McCracken LM and Gross RT 1998; The role of pain-related anxiety reduction in the outcome of multidisciplinary treatment for low back pain
BoersmaK and Linton SJ 2006; Psychological processes underlying the development of a chronic pain problem
Depression; need 0.75 page
Finding from this study:
Women with endometriosis experience depression at a similar severity as a chronic pain population and higher than the non-endometriosis women and general population.
References should reflect this finding.
Von Korff M and Simon G 1996;The relationship between pain and depression
Stress; need 0.75 page
Finding from this study:
Women with endometriosis experience stress at a similar severity as a chronic pain population and higher than the non-endometriosis women and general population.

Section7B: Chronic Pain, Cognitions and Beliefs; need 2.5 pages in total
Includes: Self-belief, active coping skills and catastrophising thoughts
Finding from this study:
The younger EEs (21-30 years) reported their belief in being able to carry on with their life despite the pain as similar to the equivalently-aged chronic pain population. Yet, additional age (31-40 years) appeared to significantly increase women’s belief that they could cope with their pain as compared with their age-matched chronic pain counterparts.
Women with endometriosis experienced catastrophising thoughts equal to the chronic pain population. Moreover, the younger women (21-30 years) with endometriosis employed about the same level of active coping thoughts as those with chronic pain. Yet, the older women with endometriosis (31-40 years), in spite of their catastrophising thoughts, employed significantly higher levels of coping cognitions, compared with the general chronic pain population.
Overall, those with better self-belief and active coping thoughts experience less pain and have greater engagement with all aspects of their life