Changing trends in the preference of health care facility and reasons for hysterectomy in India

Abstract

Many community-based studies from India have pointed out a sudden increase in the number of hysterectomy performed in the past few years. Using the data from the fourth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), we have attempted to examine the changing trends in the preference of health care facilities and reasons for hysterectomy in India. After analyzing the data, we have found that over the years, women are moving toward private health care providers for hysterectomy, and excessive menstrual bleeding is one of the most common reasons among them. A substantially higher proportion of hysterectomy in private health care facilities over the public raises the question of its necessity.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Wahengbam Bigyanada Meitei for his help in the preparation of Maps. A sincere thanks to Shivani Gharge for her diligent proofreading of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).