PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING OF CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, AND ADULTS FOLLOWING HYPOSPADIAS SURGERY - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

Used standardized questionnaires to compare psychosocial functioning o f 116 children and adolescents (9 to 18 years) and 73 adults (18 to 38 years) operated on for hypospadias, a congenital penile anomaly with that of 88 and 50 age-matched comparison males, respectively, treated for an inguinal hernia. The relationships of coping with penile appear ance, subject age, severity of hypospadias, number of operations, age at final surgery, and type of surgical procedure with psychosocial fun ctioning were also investigated. Hypospadias patients did nor exhibit a poorer psychosocial functioning and no,significant relationships of various medical characteristics with psychosocial functioning could be discerned. Genital/body perception of hypospadias patients ages 9 to 18 years correlated positively with psychosocial functioning, albeit w ith low values. These findings are important for psychologists and spe cialists in the counseling process of hypospadias patients and their p arents.