Endo Gut Study - Understanding the prevalence, type and frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms in women with and without endometriosis.

There is a high prevalence of gut symptoms in the endometriosis population where a concurrent diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is common. As symptoms in women with or without endometriosis are similar it is often difficult distinguishing between endometriosis and IBS. We want to know if IBS in this setting is a true co-morbidity or a misdiagnosis. To do this we will examine differences in the stool and vaginal microbiota, psychological distress and clinical phenotypes of women with endometriosis compared to those with endometriosis excluded via laparoscopy and healthy controls. For participants, this involves collecting one-off stool and vaginal swab samples at home on the same day completing several one-off questionnaires (e.g. Bristol stool chart, ENDOMETRIOSIS HEALTH PROFILE QUESTIONNIRE, NIH PROMIS GI symptom scale, gastrointestinal quality of life (GIQLI) questionnaire, Depression and Anxiety Symptom Score (DASS21). These data collection tools will provide information about the gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological status and faecal + vaginal microbiota of study participants. Completing the questionnaires will take participants approximately 30 mins and collecting the stool and vaginal swab will take approximately 10 mins. Participants will complete the study once they collect the samples and completed the questionnaires on one day.