ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2019
Developmental origins of endometriosis: a Swedish cohort study.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- An Overview of Essential Nutritional Strategies and Products in the Treatment of Endometriosis.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Measures of fetal growth and preterm birth and risk of endometriosis and adenomyosis in adult life: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2023Pooled it
- Genetic and Epigenetic Components in the Pathogenesis of Adenomyosis and Endometriosis in Adolescents.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Risk of major gynecologic surgery before age 40 among daughters of young mothers.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Early-Life Exposures and Odds of Adenomyosis: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Endometriosis: An Overview.Seminars in interventional radiology · 2023Review
- Insight into the Potential Mechanisms of Endocrine Disruption by Dietary Phytoestrogens in the Context of the Etiopathogenesis of Endometriosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: Experimental Models and Perspectives of Molecular Diagnostics Using Quantum Dots.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Diet associations in endometriosis: a critical narrative assessment with special reference to gluten.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Review
- Impact of lifestyle and diet on endometriosis: a fresh look to a busy corner.Przeglad menopauzalny = Menopause review · 2022Review
- The Causal Evidence of Birth Weight and Female-Related Traits and Diseases: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis.Frontiers in genetics · 2022Article
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Incidence and Prevalence of Endometriosis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Review
- In utero and early life exposures in relation to endometriosis in adolescents and young adults.European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology · 2020Article
- Epidemiology of Adenomyosis.Seminars in reproductive medicine · 2020Review
- Associations of perinatal characteristics with endometriosis: a nationwide birth cohort study.International journal of epidemiology · 2020Article
- Birth weight, childhood body mass index and height and risks of endometriosis and adenomyosis.Annals of human biology · 2020Article
- Matrix metalloproteinases 3 polymorphism increases the risk of developing advanced endometriosis and infertility: A case-control study.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEndometriosis is a chronic condition affecting women of reproductive age and is associated with multiple health burdens. Yet, findings regarding its 'developmental origins' are inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the associations of birth characteristics with endometriosis. We also explored potential mediation by adult social and reproductive factors.
methodsThis cohort study consisted of 3406 women born in Uppsala, Sweden, between 1933 and 1972. We used data from archived birth records and endometriosis diagnoses at ages 15-50 recorded in the national patient registers. Socioeconomic and reproductive characteristics were obtained from routine registers. HRs were estimated from Cox regression.
resultsDuring the follow-up, 111 women have been diagnosed with endometriosis, and most cases are external endometriosis (ie, outside the uterus, n=91). Lower standardised birth weight for gestational age was associated with increased rate of endometriosis (HR 1.35 per standard deviation decrease; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.67). This increased rate was also detected among women with fewer number of live births (HR 2.38; 95% CI 1.40 to 4.07 for one child vs ≥2 children; HR 6.09; 95% CI 3.88 to 9.57 for no child vs ≥2 children) and diagnosed infertility problem (HR 2.00; 95% CI 1.10 to 3.61) prior to endometriosis diagnosis. All the observed associations were stronger for external endometriosis. However, no evidence was found that number of births was the mediator of the inverse association between standardised birth weight and endometriosis.
conclusionThis study supports the developmental origins theory and suggests that exposure to growth restriction during the fetal period is associated with increased risk of endometriosis during reproductive years.
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