Table 2.
Associations of pressure pain sensitivity and endometriosis/CPP characteristics with the number of tender areas in the pelvic floor, abdomen, and uterus1
| Pelvic floor tender areas2 | Abdominal tender areas3 | Uterine tenderness4 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Tenderness (N=44) | High Tenderness (N=44) | p-value5 | Low Tenderness (N=51) | High Tenderness (N=37) | p-value5 | Low Tenderness (N=37) | High Tenderness (N=51) | p-value5 | |
| Pressure intensity (kgf/cm2) at non-dominant thumbnail needed to elicit | |||||||||
| ‘faint’ pain | 1.06 (0.25–3.00) | 0.50 (0.25–3.25) | 0.006 | 0.88 (0.25–3.00) | 0.63 (0.25–3.25) | 0.18 | 1.00 (0.25–3.00) | 0.63 (0.25–3.25) | 0.11 |
| ‘mild’ pain | 2.63 (0.75–6.00) | 2.00 (0.63–4.88) | 0.03 | 2.25 (0.63–6.00) | 2.50 (0.75–4.88) | 0.60 | 2.63 (0.75–6.00) | 2.25 (0.63–5.75) | 0.33 |
| ‘slightly intense’ pain | 4.13 (1.13–10.0) | 3.31 (1.38–7.63) | 0.12 | 4.13 (1.13–10.0) | 3.44 (1.13–7.63) | 0.25 | 4.25 (1.13–7.65) | 3.44 (1.38–10.0) | 0.30 |
| Endometriosis and CPP status | |||||||||
| Endo∅Pain | 21 (47.7) | 6 (13.6) | 0.002 | 24 (47.1) | 3 (8.1) | <0.001 | 20 (54.1) | 7 (13.7) | <0.001 |
| Endo+Pain | 17 (38.6) | 29 (65.9) | 23 (45.1) | 23 (62.2) | 16 (43.2) | 30 (58.8) | |||
| CPP∅Endo | 6 (13.6) | 9 (20.4) | 4 (7.8) | 11 (29.7) | 1 (2.7) | 14 (27.5) | |||
| Endometriosis stage6 | |||||||||
| Stage I/II | 13 (34.2) | 27 (81.8) | <0.001 | 20 (44.4) | 20 (76.9) | 0.008 | 11 (31.4) | 29 (80.6) | <0.001 |
| Stage III/IV | 25 (65.8) | 6 (18.2) | 25 (55.6) | 6 (23.1) | 24 (68.6) | 7 (19.4) | |||
| Number of abdominal surgeries (laparoscopy or laparotomy) | |||||||||
| One | 20 (47.6) | 22 (51.2) | 0.94 | 29 (60.4) | 13 (35.1) | 0.06 | 22 (62.9) | 20 (40.0) | 0.09 |
| Two | 12 (28.6) | 11 (25.6) | 11 (22.9) | 12 (32.4) | 8 (22.8) | 15 (30.0) | |||
| Three or more | 10 (23.8) | 10 (23.3) | 8 (16.7) | 12 (32.4) | 5 (14.3) | 15 (30.0) | |||
Data are given as median (range) for continuous variables and sample size (percentage) for categorical variables.
Pelvic floor tender areas assessed at right/left pubococcygeus, right/left iliococcygeus, and right/left coccygeus. Each area reported as tender was palpated with 2kg of pressure and a 0–10 pain rating was obtained. High tenderness defined as >2 areas with pain rating of ≥4 on 0–10 scale (moderate/severe pain).
Abdominal tender areas assessed at right/left upper and right/left lower abdominal, suprapubic and umbilical areas. High tenderness defined as >1 tender area reported as tender.
Uterine tenderness assessed at posterior lower uterine segment with single digit vaginal exam. Participants with uterine tenderness had 2kg of pressure applied to the area and reported a 0–10 pain rating. High tenderness was defined as uterine tenderness with a pain rating of ≥4 on 0–10 scale (moderate/severe pain).
Two-sided probability values from Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables and from Wilcoxon Rank Sum for continuous variables
Among endometriosis cases with information on stage (n=70)
Three participants were missing information on number of laparoscopic surgeries/laparotomies