Women living with endometriosis can benefit from therapy-based interventions like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to manage their pain, according to recent findings from the Deakin Lifespan Institute.
Pain is one of the most common, and life altering, endometriosis symptoms.
The HaPPI trial tested whether yoga or CBT could help manage endometriosis-related pain. The study found CBT, which involves working with a therapist to understand how your thoughts, feelings, physical symptoms and behaviours connect, was a particularly effective tool.
After participants completed eight weeks of CBT, researchers saw a 22 per cent drop in pain impacting daily life.
More than 300 women took part in the HaPPI trial, co-led by Associate Professor Subhadra Evans and conducted with support from Jean Hailes for Women’s Health.
Finding new ways to approach treatment for an overlooked condition
‘Endometriosis, which affects around 833,000 Australians, has been a long-neglected field of research and the treatments have been very limited,’ said Associate Professor Evans.
‘Where we’ve come from with this research is asking ourselves, how do we support people’s wellbeing living with this very challenging condition?‘
This is a whole person disease, so we need lots of different treatments to support people,’ she said.
‘It’s about creating options and choice for women with chronic health conditions.’
Associate Professor Subhadra Evans
Connecting women with individualised, easy to access care
With the conclusion of the HaPPI trial, the research is now entering its next phase, which aims to develop a comprehensive online support care program to complement current surgical and medication interventions.
The latest study, named CoDeEndo, will trial the online program to determine if it is effective in improving outcomes for women with endometriosis, based on key indicators like quality of life, pain and sleep.
The CoDeEnDo program will expand on the initial CBT intervention with yoga, hypnotherapy, mindfulness and relaxation training, acceptance commitment therapy, dietetics, physiotherapy and educational resources.
It is hoped the program, which can be tailored to individual needs, will be particularly helpful for women in rural, regional and remote communities, who commonly struggle to access timely and effective medical care.
Developing a world-first online tool for endometriosis
Associate Professor Evans said the HaPPI trial was originally meant to be a mixture of online and in-person therapies but was forced to move wholly online during COVID.
‘It’s been an interesting journey because once the HaPPI trial became fully online, participants told us they were thrilled to be able to access the treatment, especially those who couldn’t travel,’ she said.
‘That is ultimately what inspired this next phase, with the CoDeEndo study. We want to create the first online, multidisciplinary supportive care program for people with endometriosis in the world.
‘We see that as the next logical step in providing much needed support to people outside of metropolitan areas, who traditionally struggle with accessing specialist care,’ said Associate Professor Evans.
CoDeEndo is supported by a (NHMRC) Clinical Trials Activity Grant and the Academic Health Science Centre Western Alliance and is now recruiting participants. If you would like to register your interest, contact codeendo@deakin.edu.au
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