Working title of my Extended Project. Present the topic to be researched in the form of a
short statement/question/hypothesis with clear focus.
My current Extended Project Qualification research question is: “Are immune-mediated
processes in Endometriosis the principal reason for an increase in diagnostic delays of
Endometriosis in Italy’s healthcare system?”.
My initial resources will be:
I will predominantly use secondary sources to garner information regarding the relationship
between the immune-mediated process of Endometriosis and its impact on diagnostic
delays. To develop the opposing argument, I will be looking at other processes that are not
immune-mediated, however still have a significant effect on the diagnostic delays of
Endometriosis. My Extended Project Qualification is classified as scientific literature, thus, I
will need to use evidence-based research to support the discussed arguments. Case-control
studies, cross-sectional studies and prospective cohort study with a maximum follow-up
period of 25 years will be integrated. To reflect the evidence-based nature of my Extended
Project Qualification question the National Library of Medicine, Fondazione Italiana
Endometriosis and the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Italy will be the directory to
access the case-control, cross-sectional, and prospective cohort studies.
The National Library of Medicine contains 412 Free full text articles, with the following
keywords “Endometriosis” and “Immune System” published in English between 1999 to
2024, and 98 Free full text articles were published on Human Females between 1999 to
2024 that corresponded to the following search term “Time to diagnosis of Endometriosis in
Italy”. This illustrates that there is a substantial depth of secondary research available, that is
appropriate to my research aims and objectives.
Fondazione Italiana Endometriosi and the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Italy will be
used in conjunction to pay closer attention to diagnostic delays of Endometriosis in Italy.
Both Fondazione Italiana Endometriosis and the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Italy,
include studies conducted in Northern Italy and Southern Italy. This is a key factor to draw a
comparison between how access to healthcare and socioeconomic status can also have an
influence on Endometriosis diagnostic delays in Italy, as Northern Italy is regarded as more
economically affluent than Southern Italy.
The sample in a case control study compares two different groups of people: one group
diagnosed with immune-mediated processes of Endometriosis, whereas the latter without.
This will be essential in identifying the relative effect of extraneous variables in
Endometriosis diagnostic delays. Although, through specifying that my secondary research
will primarily focus in Italy’s, there are fluctuations of access to healthcare between the
Northern Italy and Southern Italy, thus, case-control studies will enable me to identify and
measure the impact of other factors that are unaccounted for when discussing the impact on
Endometriosis diagnostic delays.
Cross-sectional studies analyse quantitative or qualitative data at a single point in time,
although cross-sectional studies may not reflect the progressive worsening nature of
Endometriosis, cross-sectional studies prove significantly useful when evaluating and
analysing the influence of immune-mediated processes and non-immune-mediated factors in
