ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2025
'I think it is helpful … I mean it's not always helpful' - diagnostic complexity in endometriosis: a qualitative study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Often delayed and fractured, endometriosis care needs an overhaul.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEndometriosis affects approximately 10% of those assigned female at birth. Diagnostic journeys can be complex. The average 8-9 years between presenting symptoms and diagnosis has not changed significantly despite guidance.
aimTo explore primary care clinicians' diagnostic considerations in the context of symptoms that suggest possible endometriosis. DESIGN AND
settingQualitative semi-structured interviews with general practice clinicians working in England.
methodWe report a further analysis of 56 interviews from two inter-linked datasets with GPs and primary care clinicians about supporting patients with symptoms aligned with endometriosis. Analysis was informed by sociologies of diagnosis and ambivalence.
resultsClinicians valued the importance of diagnoses to patients. Diagnoses support longitudinal care throughout episodes of intermittent specialist input, anticipating and responding to current and future health needs, and delivering evidence-based (biomedical) medicine. Diagnoses help clinicians feel more confident and comfortable, and may confer protection from medicolegal risk. Clinicians balanced these considerations against known uncertainties, including recognition that diagnosis might not change the treatment offered, may not be accessible if empirical trials of treatment relieve symptoms, and that an endometriosis diagnosis may not enable individualised advice or risk prediction. Potential advantages were balanced against diagnostic test risks and system pressures. Recognising that patient care remains with them, GPs anticipate and actively ensure ongoing relationships and care, whatever the outcome of tests. Holding these opposing role- based priorities and expectations in parallel creates tensions, which can be characterised through the concept of sociological ambivalence.
conclusionDiagnostic considerations are complex. Educational interventions that do not recognise this may be ineffective in improving or enabling endometriosis diagnostic care journeys.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.