Quality of life, pain, and psychological well-being in women suffering from gynecological disorders

Most gynecological disorders are not life threatening. They may nevertheles s severely affect women's lives. This study was conducted to investigate qu ality of life (QOL), pain, and psychological well-being in women suffering from such disorders compared with a control group. Women with benign gyneco logical disorders who are awaiting hysterectomy have a lower score in the h ealth and functioning domain of QOL compared with the control group. More t han three of four patients experience pain, mostly pelvic pain. Pain has a clear negative influence on women's QOL, pelvic pain to a greater degree th an other types of pain. The patients report the same degree of psychologica l well-being as the control group. Benign gynecological disorders have a cl ear negative impact on women's health and functioning, and pain is a major problem for these patients. The more pain, the lower QOL. Their psychologic al well-being, however, does not seem to be affected.