The quality of life in women suffering from gynecological disorders is improved by means of hysterectomy - Absolute and relative differences between pre- and postoperative measures

Background: Gynecological disorders can have adverse effects on a woman's q uality of life. Most hysterectomies are thus performed to enhance women's q uality of life rather than to save life. This study aims at evaluating the long-term impact of hysterectomy on this outcome variable. Method's. The quality of life in 111 women undergoing hysterectomy for beni gn reasons was tested before, and six and twelve months after, the operatio n. A control-group of non-hysterectomized women from the normal population was tested once. Ferrans & Powers' Quality of Life Index, consisting of fou r life domains, was used. This index has pre-set highest possible obtainabl e score. For the subjects with a high pre-test score, there was little scop e for further measurable improvement after hysterectomy, which gives a fals e stability in the material. A method for calculating the relative differen ces was introduced. Results. The health and functioning domain of the quality of life among wom en awaiting hysterectomy is significantly lower compared to that of the con trol-group (p<.01) Both six and twelve months after the hysterectomy, the p atients have reached the same level of their health and functioning as the control-group. Using the relative difference-form, it is demonstrated that the subjects have obtained significantly higher levels in all the domains o f quality of life after hysterectomy. Conclusions. The results of this study show that hysterectomy is associated with a positive long-term impact on a woman's quality of life.