Women's sense of well-being before and after hysterectomy.

Objective: To describe women's perceived sense of well-being before and after hysterectomy by examining a broad array of outcomes experienced by women undergoing hysterectomies for benign conditions.

Design: Prospective, descriptive.

Setting: A regional tertiary care facility in central Texas.

Participants: One hundred seventy-eight women presenting for hysterectomies for nononcologic reasons who completed all three periods of data collection.

Main Outcome Measures: Subjects completed a questionnaire assessing information pertinent to their current gynecologic health and the SF-36 Health Survey before surgery and of 4 and 11 months after surgery. The women also completed the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale preoperatively and at 4 months postoperatively. Additional demographic and medical information was extracted from the medical record.

Results: In the initial period after surgery, the patients experienced an improved health status. In addition, the women reported on improvement in their psychologic well-being, including less depression and improved sexual functioning. Relationships with others also improved after the surgery.

Conclusions: Outcomes for these women undergoing hysterectomy for nononcologic reasons were generally positive. This information is vital for preoperative counseling by nurses of women contemplating or about to undergo this surgery.