Endometriosis: economic impact and need for centers of excellence

Direct endometriosis-related costs are considerable, appear to be driven by hospitalizations, and have increased with 61% between 1993 and 2002 in the USA, despite a decline in the endometriosis-related hospital length of stay during the same period. Studies evaluating the cost of endometriosis in infertile patients and the indirect endometriosis-associated costs are largely lacking. Assuming a 10% prevalence rate of endometriosis among women of reproductive age, it has been estimated that the annual costs of endometriosis attained $22 billion in the USA only in 2002. In this age group, these costs are considera…