Of the total 3.2 million diagnosed cases of endometriosis forecast in the 7MM* in 2030, 81% are expected to be young women aged between 12 and 49 years old, according to epidemiology research by GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that the greater affliction of working-age women, combined with an increasing occurrence of disabling symptoms, is driving a rise of the disease’s social and economic burden.

Antara Bhattacharya, MPH, Senior Epidemiologist at GlobalData, comments: “GlobalData’s research found that stage IV endometriosis is expected to be most dominant in 2030 in the 7MM. This is the most severe stage of the disease, with symptoms including large cysts on the ovaries, multiple areas where intrusive body tissues have implanted themselves, or areas where obstructive scar tissue has formed. These symptoms can be extremely painful, and a proliferation in working-age women should be a significant economic concern.

“One problem is that diagnosis is often delayed until the disease reaches higher stages. Practitioners rely primarily on laparoscopy for a definitive diagnosis before beginning therapy, frequently resulting in prolonged delay between symptom onset, diagnosis, and subsequent treatment.”

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Endometriosis – Epidemiology Forecast to 2030’, reveals that in the 7MM, the US will account for most cases undergoing laparoscopy at 34.5% in 2030, compared to 31% in 2020.

Bhattacharya continues: “While there is no cure for the disease, enhanced use of clinical diagnostic techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and laparoscopy may reduce the delay in diagnosis, and hence bring more rapid relief to affected patients, limit disease progression, and prevent further complications. As such, epidemiological studies that aim to determine the temporal trends for endometriosis across different populations are imperative for better knowledge of the etiology of endometriosis.”

Other findings from GlobalData’s epidemiology research into endometriosis included:

• In terms of phenotype, ovarian endometrioma were predominant in the 7MM.
• In terms of comorbidities, chronic pelvic pain was predominant for endometriosis in the 7MM.
• The number of diagnosed prevalent cases of endometriosis in the 7MM is projected to decrease from 3.3 million in 2020 to 3.2 million in 2030, which reflects a negative annual growth rate (AGR) of 0.26%.
• The US will see the highest number of diagnosed prevalent cases of endometriosis in the 7MM, at 1.5 million, while Japan will see the lowest, at nearly 0.1 million.In the 7MM, the US accounted for the highest number of diagnosed prevalent cases of endometriosis undergoing laparoscopy.

*7MM: The US, 5EU (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK), and Japan