ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1562196
Global, regional, and national burdens of endometriosis from 1990 to 2021: a trend analysis
Provisionally accepted- Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China
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Background: Endometriosis is a common, chronic, estrogen-dependent gynecological disorder that significantly affects patients' quality of life. However, the disease burden and its trends may be undergoing significant changes, and comprehensive data on this issue is currently lacking. This study aimed to examine trends in the burden of endometriosis at global, national, and regional levels.Methods: We collected detailed data on incidence numbers, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), and age-standardized DALY rate (ASDR) for the period 1990-2021 from the GBD 2021 database. We calculated the estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) to quantify the temporal trends in the ASIR and ASDR of endometriosis, and presented the global distribution of these trends.The global incident cases of endometriosis were 3.45 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] = 2.44 to 4.6), and DALYs were 2.05 million (95% UI = 1.20 to 3.13). The global ASIR decreased from 1990 to 2021 (EAPC = -1.01, 95% UI = -1.06 to -0.96), while the ASDR were similar (EAPC = -0.99, 95% UI = -1.04 to -0.95). The age groups with the highest global incidence and DALYs were 20-24 and 25-29 years. The highest 2021 ASIR and ASDR were both in Niger (77.33 per 100,000 individuals, 95% UI = 52.74 to 106.78; 61.45 per 100,000 individuals, 95% UI = 34.29 to 95.47), in Oceania (77.71 per 100,000 individuals, 95% UI = 51.23 to 100.27; 45.24 per 100,000 individuals, 95% UI = 45.24 to 71.95). In 2021, the ASIR and ASDR were highest in the low sociodemographic index (SDI) region. We also found that the EAPC was negatively correlated with ASIR in 1990 (ρ = -0.55, p < 0.001), and positively correlated with HDI in 2021 (ρ = 0.556, p < 0.001).The global burden of endometriosis remains substantial and has continued to rise across most countries, territories, and regions since the 1990s, underscoring the urgent need for targeted public health strategies and advancements in diagnosis and treatment to address this pervasive condition.
Keywords: Endometriosis, disease burden, GBD 2021, Incidence, DALYs
Received: 17 Jan 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yan, Li, Dai, Shi, Wu, Gu, ZHANG, Li, Zhang, Lyu and Leng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jinhua Leng, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China
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