Fig. 3
Subgroup analyses of the mean difference in the quality of life score
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval
Notes: β denotes the linear regression coefficient (mean difference in the quality of life between individuals with endometriomas and those without endometriomas). The modification factors were the diagnostic method (imaging modalities/histology), concurrent pain symptoms (1–4/5–6), comorbid infertility (yes/no), presence of adenomyosis (yes/no), presence of fibroma (yes/no), moderate depression symptoms (yes/no), moderate anxiety symptoms (yes/no), pain catastrophizing (yes/no) and central component of pain (yes/no). The P value for each factor was used for determining the association between the quality of life score and the presence of endometrioma (modification factor if P < 0.05; not otherwise), allowing to compare the mean difference between modification factor levels. For each level of each factor, the mean difference in the quality of life score between patients with endometriomas and those with other types of endometriosis is indicated by the blue square (point estimate value), with the 95% confidence interval delimited by the black horizontal solid line. The vertical black dashed line represents the null value (zero) of the mean difference, indicating that the mean difference is significantly different from zero when the confidence interval does not include zero (equivalent to p < 0.05; not shown here). The models were adjusted for age, body mass index (kg/m2), ethnicity, age of menarche, parity, education level, employment status, marital status, annual income, hormone use in the last three months, and each modification factor using an interaction term with the endometriosis type variable