Overview
- University of Queensland researchers have published a five-minute screening tool to flag adolescents and young women at risk for endometriosis, with details in eClinicalMedicine.
- The Simplified Adolescent Factors for Endometriosis (SAFE) score uses six age-appropriate questions in a point-based format derived from more than 9,000 participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.
- Developers say earlier triage could reduce average waits that commonly stretch six to eight years in Australia, with a new Endometriosis UK report estimating nine years and four months in the UK.
- The tool is designed to guide primary care referrals and will undergo evaluation in Brisbane GP, endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, with a possible app under consideration.
- Endometriosis affects about one in ten women worldwide and has no cure, with diagnosis often confirmed surgically even as ultrasound and MRI are used more frequently.