title: Hysterectomy: social and psychosexual aspects.
abstract: Studies of the psychological and sexual outcome of hysterectomy have often arrived at conflicting conclusions and this has resulted in some confusion among health professionals as well as among women themselves. This situation should cause concern, since the incidence of this surgery is high in most countries of the western world. The confusion about outcome arises out of the methodological problems that plagued earlier research. Some of the more recent studies using prospective design, standardized measures and appropriate statistical analysis have not implicated hysterectomy with increased psychological or sexual disorders. However, both before and after hysterectomy in samples studied, the rate of psychological disorder was higher than would have been expected in a normal population, although a clearer picture has emerged from the most recent study. In this paper, risk factors are identified, and the need to include women's own evaluation of the procedure is emphasized.
authors.affiliation: Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007258:Informed Consent; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome