New study shows uterine fibroids have greater impact in African-American women

A national survey has found that uterine fibroids have a disproportionate impact on African American women, causing more severe symptoms, interfering with their daily life, and causing them to miss work. These new findings are reported in Journal of Women's Health.

African American women have a 3-fold higher incidence of uterine fibroids and tend to have them at an earlier age. In "The Burden of Uterine Fibroids for African American Women: Results of a National Survey," authors Elizabeth Stewart, MD, Wanda Nicholson, MD, MPH, MBA, Linda Bradley, MD, and Bijan Borah, PhD, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, MN, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, and Cleveland Clinic, OH, describe the symptoms, concerns, and quality of life issues African American women are more likely to face than are other women with uterine fibroids.

Early intervention to reduce the high risk of hysterectomy and preserve the fertility of this disproportionately affected group of women should be considered, proposes Gloria Richard-Davis, MD, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, in the accompanying Editorial, "Uterine Fibroid: The Burden Borne by African American Women."

"Uterine fibroids are a major source of morbidity for reproductive-aged women, and this is especially true for African American women," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.