None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Hysterectomy (removal of the womb) may be performed to try and improve quality of life for women experiencing benign (non-cancerous) conditions that can cause pelvic pain, heavy bleeding and prolapse. As it is an irreversible surgery after which the woman can no longer carry a pregnancy the decision to undergo hysterectomy may be difficult for both patients and their clinicians. We are interested in how and why women make the decision to undergo hysterectomy, how it changes their quality of life and experience of symptoms, if at all, and whether it is associated with significant relief or regret. We especially want to know if age and number of children a women has had at the time of hysterectomy influence their feelings of relief and/or regret. This information will help guide women and their clinicians considering hysterectomy as an option. We will contact women who have had a hysterectomy for benign conditions and ask them to complete a questionnaire to explore their feelings or relief and regret, and also get information about their medical history, decision making about hysterectomy, symptoms and quality of life after hysterectomy as well as current levels of stress and personality type. This information will be used to examine the relationship age and parity (number of children had) have with regret and relief after hysterectomy as well as look at other factors that influence this.
Interventions
Women who have undergone elective hysterectomy for benign disease when aged less than 51 years at the Royal Women's Hospital between 01/01/2008 - 31/07/2015 will be contacted to complete a survey. This asks about their experience of relief and regret regarding their hysterectomy as well as demographic data, medical and symptom history, current levels of stress and anxiety and personality trait. The survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. This survey has been self constructed with
Women who have undergone elective hysterectomy for benign disease when aged less than 51 years at the Royal Women's Hospital between 01/01/2008 - 31/07/2015 will be contacted to complete a survey. This asks about their experience of relief and regret regarding their hysterectomy as well as demographic data, medical and symptom history, current levels of stress and anxiety and personality trait. The survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. This survey has been self constructed with advice from gynaecologists and a psychologist as no pre-existing survey fit for our purpose existed. It does incorporate two validated questionnaires, the DASS-21, to measure depression, anxiety and stress and the 10-item neuroticism subscale of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP-NEO) to assess the personality trait of neuroticism.
Sponsors
Dr Charlotte Reddington
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
• All women who have undergone elective hysterectomy for benign disease in a general gynaecology unit at the Royal Women’s Hospital (Gynaecology Units 1, 2 and 3) • Age <51 at time of surgery (this will include a range of ages for whom fertility is a possible issue and for whom fertility is not an issue and will target a mostly pre-menopausal population. With the exception of prolapse surgery the reasons for which hysterectomy is undertaken and pathologies detected differ in a menopausal group) • Any type of hysterectomy included (total/subtotal; vaginal/ abdominal/ laparoscopic) • Hysterectomy performed from 01/01/2008 – 31/07/2015 inclusive (as we want to allow at least 3 years of time from surgery to allow for long-term reflection on the decision)
Exclusion criteria
• Indication for hysterectomy was malignancy or suspected malignancy including endometrial hyperplasia • Hysterectomy performed as unplanned/emergency procedure • Caesarean hysterectomy • Non-English speaking
Outcome results
None listed