The Tapping Evidence Base
Pain · Other Physical Conditions

The Effects of Emotional Freedom Technique on Pelvic Pain and Quality of Life in Women Diagnosed with Endometriosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Cuvadar, A., Guksu, Z., Ates, S. · Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine · 2025

Randomized trial 👥 64 participants ⚖️ vs. Breathing exercises (active control) Moderate rigor ✓ Source-checked 📍 Turkiye
In plain English. Sixty-four women with endometriosis pain were randomly assigned to monthly Tapping sessions plus affirmations or to breathing exercises. The Tapping group's pain scores dropped sharply over two months while the breathing group's did not, and quality of life improved across most measures. A real active-control comparison, which makes it stronger than a no-treatment design.

What they found

64
Sixty-four women with endometriosis pain were randomly assigned to monthly Tapping sessions plus affirmations or to breathing exercises.

Parallel-group RCT (n=64, 32/32) with an active breathing-exercise control: EFT produced a significant reduction in pelvic pain (VAS 7.34 to 4.68 over two months vs control; time x group interaction eta-squared=0.323, p<0.001) and significant improvement across six SF-36 quality-of-life subscales. Primary outcome (VAS pain) met.

How the study worked

Who took part Women with endometriosis-related pelvic pain, Trakya University gynecology clinic (May-Oct 2024); parallel-group RCT, 32 EFT (two 45-60min monthly sessions + affirmations 2x/week) vs 32 breathing-exercise control (n=64)
What they did In a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared with Breathing exercises (active control)
Measured with Pelvic pain (VAS), Quality of life (SF-36 subscales)

💡 Where this could help

Strongest new addition: a parallel RCT with an active comparator showing a large controlled reduction in endometriosis pelvic pain and broad quality-of-life gains.

🔬 What to study next

Report the control-arm endpoint mean/SD (or F and df) so a between-group Cohen's d can be pooled into the pain forest.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants64 people
PopulationWomen with endometriosis-related pelvic pain, Trakya University gynecology clinic (May-Oct 2024); parallel-group RCT, 32 EFT (two 45-60min monthly sessions + affirmations 2x/week) vs 32 breathing-exercise control
Comparison groupBreathing exercises (active control)
Outcome measuresPelvic pain (VAS), Quality of life (SF-36 subscales)
JournalJournal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine
Year2025
CountryTurkiye
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / Tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Cuvadar, A., Guksu, Z., & Ates, S. (2025). The Effects of Emotional Freedom Technique on Pelvic Pain and Quality of Life in Women Diagnosed with Endometriosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/27683605251399059

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/Tapping. Explore more studies on Pain · Other Physical Conditions

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Pain 64 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Parallel-group RCT (n=64, 32/32) with anactive breathing-exercise control: EFTproduced a significant reduction in… Randomized trial · 64 participants Cuvadar · 2025 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com