Psychological distress after hysterectomy—a predictive study

Abstract

Abstract The present study assessed the power of several demographic, psychosocial and medical variables in predicting psychological distress two months after a hysterectomy. Forty-two premenopausal women who had a hysterectomy for reasons other than cancer were tested twice, the day prior to surgery and again two months after surgery. Prior to surgery they were given a battery of tests covering various demographic (e.g. educational status, age, number of children) and psychosocial variables (e.g. social support, information about the biological function of the uterus, attitude toward loss of uterus, cessation of menstruation, definitive infertility). Information on medical diagnosis/indication for hysterectomy, type of hysterectomy performed, additional surgical interventions, and postoperative medical complications were obtained from the patients' gynecologists. Two months after surgery, a questionnaire assessing the subjective impact of hysterectomy was administered as a measure of psychological distress. Discriminant analyses and a bootstrapping procedure showed that psychosocial variables as measured prior to surgery (namely social support, locus of control, attitude toward loss of uterus and its objective consequences, and cognitive appraisal of hysterectomy) allowed for an 84% correct prediction of high vs. low distress as experienced two months after hysterectomy. In addition, the predictive power of the psychosocial variables was significantly higher than that of the medical variables. The potential usefulness of psychological preparatory counseling is discussed.