Germany Endometriosis Pattern Changes; Prevalence and Therapy over 2010 and 2019 Years: A Retrospective Cross- Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the prevalence and the therapy patterns of endome- triosis differ in 2010 and 2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study was based on the data from the IQVIA Disease Analyzer database and included women with at least one visit to one of the 136 private gynecologist practices in Germany in 2010 or 2019. The prevalence of endometriosis as well as prevalence of each endometriosis therapy such as Dienogest, other Progestins than Dienogest, and Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormones, was calculated in both years. RESULTS: The present study included 346,249 women documented in 2010 and 343,486 women documented in 2019. The prevalence of endometriosis increased from 0.53% in 2010 to 0.66% in 2019 (P<0.001). The proportion of en- dometriosis patients treated with Dienogest increased significantly between 2010 and 2019 (18.1 vs. 35.0%). The proportion of women prescribed other Progestins than Dienogest has not significantly changed between 2010 and 2019 (8.4 vs. 8.3%). Gonadotropin-releasing hormones were prescribed only rarely in both 2010 and 2019, with a significant decrease in prescriptions between these two years (3.7 vs. 2.0%). CONCLUSION: There were significant changes in the prevalence and medical therapeutic patterns of endometriosis in 2010 versus 2019 reflecting changes in therapy guidelines and possibly in diagnostic methods.