NIH award supports new center at Mayo Clinic for health disparities in uterine fibroid treatment

Uterine fibroids, noncancerous tumors of the uterus, affect about 70% of white women and up to 90% of Black women according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Fibroid symptoms may include heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, bowel and bladder problems, and sometimes infertility and miscarriage. For women of African descent, fibroids may develop at an earlier age and be more frequent and severe. Many women, particularly Black women, are likely to undergo hysterectomy to alleviate significant health issues.

"Uterine fibroids are so common that women tend to normalize the pain," says Ebbie Stewart, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gynecologist and researcher. "Further study is needed to fully understand the health disparities in diagnosis and treatment of fibroids. Improving care for all women and especially Black women is a key research goal."

The traditional approach to treating fibroids has been observation to avoid unnecessary intervention and hysterectomy for more serious cases. Understanding the barriers to the wider use of conservative nonsurgical treatment options is needed.

Over many years, Dr. Stewart and collaborators have published extensive research on facets of uterine fibroids that disproportionately affect the African American population, calling it a public health issue in a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. A 2021 study in the Journal of Racial Ethnic Health Disparities provides insight into the ethnoracial factors and cultural barriers that women of color experience in the management and treatment of uterine fibroids.

New center to address a public health issue

To establish a specialized center for research on health disparities around uterine fibroids, Mayo Clinic was awarded a $7.5 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the NIH.

NIH grant RFA-HD-24-005: Specialized Centers for Research on Health Disparities in Uterine Leiomyoma.

Read the full article on Mayo Clinic News Network