Experts Issue a Call-to-Action to Recognize Periods as a Vital Sign of Health to Reduce Disparities in Uterine Fibroid Care for Black Women

A multidisciplinary group of experts agree that elevating awareness of a woman’s period as a vital sign of health would help to routinize and prioritize care for the uterine fibroids that impact eighty percent of Black women¹. This approach was one of several key initiatives proposed to reduce disparities in uterine fibroid care during Unmuting Fibroids: Getting Loud for Equal Care, a roundtable convened by The Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) in partnership with Hologic’s Project Health Equality. Participants also cited the need to connect Black patients to culturally competent care and to get behind bipartisan legislation introduced to support greater funding for research, education, and access to care.

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Uterine fibroids, which are benign uterine tumors, impact approximately 26 million women in the U.S. with a disproportionate impact on Black women². Symptoms of uterine fibroids can include severe menstrual bleeding, anemia, fatigue, pain, bladder or bowel dysfunction, impaired fertility, and pregnancy complications and loss. These symptoms can have negative effects on workplace productivity and overall quality of life. Even in their 30’s, 74 percent of Black women will have multiple fibroids versus 31 percent of white women³, and Black women are more than twice as likely to undergo a hysterectomy and have almost a seven-fold increased risk of undergoing myomectomies despite studies that show increased morbidity with both myomectomy and hysterectomy⁴.

“A nearly 80 percent incidence of any medical condition should be a major public health priority,” said Linda Blount, President and CEO, Black Women’s Health Imperative. “Unfortunately, despite the prevalence and severity of uterine fibroids experienced by Black women, there remain deep disparities in how we receive care.”

Black women suffer greater severity of disease as evidenced by being twice as likely to be hospitalized for fibroid-related issues as white women⁵. While Black women are diagnosed with fibroids at younger ages, they will often wait four years or more before seeking treatment for fibroids⁴, in part due to being offered more invasive treatments vs. minimally invasive solutions.

"For too long, Black women have suffered with fibroids, often in silence, and when you listen to their stories about their fear, pain and their experience of not being heard by health providers, it’s heartbreaking,” said Rachel Villanueva, MD FACOG, the National Medical Association. “Knowledge is power. We need to empower women to understand their menstrual health as a sign of their overall health and well-being.”