Understanding hysterectomies: Sexual satisfaction and quality of life

Because a hysterectomy is one of the more frequently performed surgical procedures in the U.S., we used a causal model to study those women who had and had not experienced a hysterectomy. Using family stress theory, we examined the quality of life of these two groups of women as it was related to physiological and psychological health stressors, family stress, resources, meaning of the stressors, and the perceived sexual satisfaction. A survey research design was employed with a national random sample of women (N = 346) between the ages of 45 and 60 who were members of an association of college‐educated women. Research instruments included the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes Scale, Women's Health Questionnaire, Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale, Index of Sexual Satisfaction, and Generalized Life Contentment Scale. There was no significant difference in the quality of life of those women who had and had not experienced a hysterectomy, but women who had a hysterectomy perceived greater sexual satisfaction than those who had not experienced a hysterectomy. For those women who had experienced 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 total relationships to quality of life for those women who had not experienced a hysterectomy were psychological and physiological health stressors, but not family stress. An important implication of this investigation is the need to understand further the role of physiological and psychological health stressors, as well as family stress, in the lives of women.