Endometriosis: Identifying Meaningful Subgroups of Females at Risk of a Poorer Adjustment

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to explore whether scores on the Activity Engagement (AE) and Pain Willingness subscales of the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) may be useful to identify clinical significant subgroups of females with endometriosis. Methods: A total of 296 females with endometriosis completed the CPAQ, measures of positive and negative affectivity, anxiety and depression. Exploratory cluster and ANCOVA’s analyses were conducted. Findings: Analyses yielded three clusters on the basis of the CPAQ scores: females with high or low scores in both CPAQ dimensions, and participants with high AE but low PW scores (discordant scores). The cluster with low scores showed a poorer adjustment than the other two clusters, and the Discordant group showed a poorer adjustment than the group with high scores. Discussion: Findings support the validity of the CPAQ scores to identify females with endometriosis at risk of poorer adjustment to illness. Further, results support that PW is sufficient but not necessary to AE.