Ca. Darling et Ym. Mckoysmith, UNDERSTANDING HYSTERECTOMIES - SEXUAL SATISFACTION AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE, The Journal of sex research, 30(4), 1993, pp. 324-335
Because a hysterectomy is one of the more frequently performed surgica
l procedures in the U.S., we used a model to study those women who had
and had not experienced a hysterectomy. Using family stress theory, w
e examined the quality of life of these two groups of women as it was
related to physiological and psychological health stressors, family st
ress, resources, meaning of the stressors, and the perceived sexual sa
tisfaction. A survey research design was employed with a national rand
om sample of women (N = 346) between the ages of 45 and 60 who were me
mbers of an association of college-educated women. Research instrument
s included the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes Scale, Wome
n's Health Questionnaire, Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation S
cale, Index of Sexual Satisfaction, and Generalized Life Contentment S
cale. There was no significant difference in the quality of life of th
ose women who had and had not experienced a hysterectomy, but women wh
o had a hysterectomy perceived greater sexual satisfaction than those
who had not experienced a hysterectomy. For those women who had experi
enced a hysterectomy, the proposed model indicated that psychological
health stress, family stress, and the meaning of the stressors had the
greatest total association with the quality of life. The greatest tot
al relationships to quality of life for those women who had not experi
enced a hysterectomy were psychological and physiological health stres
sors, but not family stress. An important implication of this investig
ation is the need to understand further the role of physiological and
psychological health stressors, as well as family stress, in the lives
of women.