A controversial study that scored women with endometriosis for their attractiveness has been retracted by the authors, who, years after it was first published, have now apologised for the distress caused.

Published in Fertility and Sterility in 2013, the Italian research involved four independent male and female observers rating 300 nulliparous women, with and without endometriosis, for their attractiveness.

The researchers reported that women with rectovaginal endometriosis were judged to be more attractive than those in two control groups — women without endometriosis and those with peritoneal and ovarian endometriosis.

The four observers judged 31 of the 100 women with rectovaginal endometriosis as ‘attractive’ or ‘very attractive’, around three times more than in the other two groups, they said.