ArticleBMC women's health2026
Diminished anticipatory pleasure predicts anhedonia in women with endometrisois: a case-control study.
Article in BMC women's health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnhedonia, a diminished response to pleasurable stimuli extensively studied in mental disorders and chronic pain, has been reported as prevalent among patients with deep endometriosis. Anhedonia is considered a multifaceted transdiagnostic construct involving cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes related to the anticipation and experience of pleasure. In this study, we aim to expand on previous findings by exploring the presence of anhedonia in patients with ultrasound diagnosed (UD) endometriosis compared to a control group, and by examining how its anticipatory and consummatory components contribute to the loss of pleasure in this condition.
methodsA total of 216 patients with UD endometriosis and 229 controls were recruited from a hospital gynecological service. Sociodemographic and clinical information was collected, and participants completed an online survey assessing anhedonia using a gold-standard measure, the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). To assess anticipatory and consummatory components, the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS) was administered, along with additional psychological measures of mood and anxiety. A moderated multiple regression model was performed to predict anhedonia scores based on TEPS subscales and diagnosis status. An additional model including anxiety, depression and dysmenorrhea was also conducted. Analyses were conducted using R version 4.4.3 and RStudio, with p-values set at < 0.05.
resultsClinically pathological anhedonia was more prevalent in patients with UD endometriosis than in controls (31% vs. 15%, p < .001). UD endometriosis participants also reported greater menstrual pain, more chronic pain comorbidities, higher anxiety, and increased use of mental health services and hormonal treatments (all p < .05). In moderated regression analyses, UD endometriosis diagnosis, lower anticipatory pleasure, and lower consummatory pleasure significantly predicted anhedonia (p < .05), while depression was not predictive. A significant diagnosis × anticipatory pleasure interaction (p < .001) indicated stronger impairment among patients with UD endometriosis. This effect remained after adjusting for relevant covariates (anxiety, depression and dysmenorrhea). Depression was not predictive of anhedonia levels.
conclusionsOur findings confirm that patients with UD endometriosis consistently show deficits in deriving pleasure from everyday life experiences independently from depressive symptoms and directly influenced by anxiety and marginally dysmenorrhea. Notably, a specific impairment in anticipatory pleasure suggests a disruption in cognitive-affective processing associated with this chronic inflammatory condition. These results support the relevance for multidisciplinary care in UD endometriosis and highlight the transdisciplinary value of assessing anhedonia. Interventions targeting cognitive and affective processes may be essential for restoring health and improving quality of life in this patient population.
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.