الفهرس 
Magnitude of CPPOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is defined as intermittent or continuous pain in the lower abdomen for at least 6 months that is not related to menstruation, pregnancy, malignancy or sexual intercourse and severe enough to interfere with QoL. It is a common debilitating condition affecting women. About one in four women suffer CPP. It accounts for 10% of gynecologic encounters, 20% of gynecological laparoscopies. Up to 20% of hysterectomies are performed solely for CPP.
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) affects nearly all aspects of women’s personal, family, social sexual and work lives. It comprises substantial personal suffering and health care expenditure for interventions, including multiple consultations and medical and surgical therapies.
Owing to its complex pathophysiology, the etiology of CPP is poorly understood. Although gynecological causes like endometriosis and PID may be responsible for CPP, yet a significant proportion of these women have non-gynecological causes or even no identifiable cause.
Though being a challenging clinical problem, it is often ignored, misdiagnosed, underestimated and mistreated leading to frustration and depression of the patients. This leads to poor control of the events that initiate pain and a vicious circle is further reinforced.
Effective management of CPP requires high level of knowledge, clinical skills and empathy delivered comprehensive multidisciplinary integrated approach.
Despite being described as a major women’s health issue, no data could be traced about the prevalence of CPP or its effect upon women’s lives in Egypt.
The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of CPP among women attending FHCs in Alexandria governorate, to determine its effect on their QoL and their health seeking behaviour.
The study was a cross-sectional study. Ever married women aged (18-59 years) who were not pregnant and have not been pregnant during the past 12 months who attended all FHCs in Alexandria governorate (three at the time of the study) were targeted for this study. The total sample size calculated was 896 and were rounded to 900 to compensate for missing data that may be encountered.
Data collection was conducted using a structured interview questionnaire (Appendix). The questionnaire was designed to collect data on:
1. Women’s personal and socio-demographic data characteristics
2. Obstetric, contraceptive, medical and surgical histories
3. Different types of pelvic pain
4. QoL of the interviewed women
5. Health seeking behaviour of women with CPP