Endometriosis Group Care (PEEPS)

February 12, 2026 updated by: Washington University School of Medicine

A Novel Approach to Endometriosis Treatment: Piloting an Interdisciplinary Group Care Model

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the effectiveness of the Peer Empowered Endometriosis Pain Support (PEEPS) program in people living with endometriosis-related pelvic pain. The main question[s] it aims to answer are:

  • Is PEEPS effective at decreasing pain interference and improving patient-reported quality of life outcomes?
  • What are the barriers and facilitators to PEEPS implementation? Participants will engage in eight weekly 2-hour sessions led by an endometriosis specialist, pain psychologist, pelvic floor physical therapist, and yoga instructor. At these sessions they will participate in peer support, education, mindfulness, and yoga.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is an 8 week interdisciplinary, integrative group care program conducted through the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL). The program, called PEEPS, incorporates mindfulness, physical therapy, yoga, physical activity, nutrition, and education. Additionally, PEEPS will provide peer support and demonstrate investment of individual clinicians and the healthcare system.

The program focuses on equipping participants with pain management and coping skills so they have an expanded toolkit to manage their pain after completing the program.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

35

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • Washington University in St. Louis

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 48 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18-48 years
  • Operative confirmation of endometriosis
  • Chronic pelvic pain (defined as pain perceived to originate from the pelvis, lasting ≥6 months)
  • No plan to have surgery in next 12 weeks
  • Be able to attend eight 2-hour weekly sessions on the Washington University campus

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-English speaking
  • Currently pregnant
  • Severe physical impairment
  • History of hip or spine surgery
  • Opioid use ≥ 5 days in the past 3 months, other than for the 6-week post-operative period
  • Current or history of psychiatric disorder with psychosis
  • Vulvadynia or vaginismus

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Endometriosis group care
Groups of 6-10 patients with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain will attend eight weekly two-hour sessions.
Other: Peer Empowered Endometriosis Pain Support (PEEPS)
The sessions will provide education on endometriosis, mindfulness, yoga, nutrition, and strategies to cope with chronic pain. Patients will additionally receive peer and clinician support to decrease the social isolation experienced by people with endometriosis

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PROMIS Pain Interference SF 8a
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Change in pain interference at completion of the intervention (8-weeks) as compared to baseline is reported. Analysis was conducted using mixed-effects modeling. PROMIS measures are reported with T-scores using a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10, based on the U.S. general population. Higher score indicates more of the measure (i.e. more pain).
8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PROMIS Physical Function SF10a
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Change in physical function at completion of the intervention (8-weeks) as compared to baseline is reported. Analysis was conducted using mixed-effects modeling. PROMIS measures are reported with T-scores using a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10, based on the U.S. general population. Higher score indicates more of the measure (i.e. more/better physical function).
8 weeks
Female Sexual Function Index
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Change in reported sexual function, measured by the Female Sexual Function Index. 19-question validated survey administered to participants who endorsed being sexually active. Composite score is reported. The Scale Score Range is from 2.0 to 36.0 with higher score indicating better sexual function.
8 weeks
Endometriosis Health Profile-30
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Change in endometriosis-specific quality of life (measured by Endometriosis Health Profile-30) at completion of the intervention (8-weeks) as compared to baseline is reported. Analysis was conducted using mixed-effects modeling. This is a 30-question survey with 5 sub-domains. Composite score is reported. The score range is from 0 (best possible health status) to 100 (worst possible health status measured by the questionnaire). Lower scores mean better health.
8 weeks
PROMIS Anxiety SF7a
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Change in anxiety at completion of the intervention (8-weeks) as compared to baseline is reported. Analysis was conducted using mixed-effects modeling. PROMIS measures are reported with T-scores using a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10, based on the U.S. general population. Higher score indicates more of the measure (i.e. more anxiety).
8 weeks
PROMIS Depression SF8b
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Change in depression at completion of the intervention (8-weeks) as compared to baseline is reported. Analysis was conducted using mixed-effects modeling. PROMIS measures are reported with T-scores using a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10, based on the U.S. general population. Higher score indicates more of the measure (i.e. more depression). Lower score indicates symptom improvement.
8 weeks
Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC)
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Percentage of Participants Reporting Improved Symptoms at PEEPS completetion measured by the Patient Global Impression of Change Scale. A score of 6 or greater indicates clinically significant improvement in symptoms.
8 weeks
Modified Every Day Discrimination Scale
Time Frame: Baseline
To assess experiences of healthcare discrimination, this Modified Every Day Discrimination Scale was administered at baseline. It is a validated survey that assesses experience of discrimination in 10 potential domains. Percentage of participants reporting experiencing discrimination "at least a few times per year" or more frequently is reported.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Washington University School of Medicine

Collaborators

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 20, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 26, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

September 26, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 10, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 10, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

November 21, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 12, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 202206202

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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