Psycho-social problems of women who had undergone hysterectomy

) The study also gathered first hand information from women about the posthysterectomychanges in their life through the case study method.Research methodologya) Literature review – Books, articles and research studies dealing with the topicof hysterectomy were referred. For this the Medical College library, BritishCouncil library, libraries of non-governmental agencies, the Internet etc weremade use of.b) Tools of data collection- the main source of data was, four in-depth casestudies of women who had undergone hysterectomy. Key informant interviewswere conducted with gynaecologists working in both government and privatehospitals. In addition, secondary data was collected from the gynaecologydepartments of SAT hospital, Women and Children Hospital Thycaud,Cosmopolitan hospital and GG hospital regarding the number ofhysterectomies performed, the nature of hysterectomy, the case history of thesepatients etc.Sampling designTwo government hospitals and two private hospitals were chosen to conduct thepilot study. The unit of study was woman under the age of 45 who had undergonehysterectomy at least four years back. The time lag was introduced to collect dataregarding the changing nature of problems that women face in the posthysterectomyperiod. From these hospitals one case each was identified fordetailed case study using random sampling method.Review of literatureThe emotional stability of a patient can greatly influence the course of an illness.Women who undergo hysterectomy are characterized by so many features likechildren are growing and leaving home, producing ‘empty nest syndrome’, childrearing and home making roles gradually decline in importance. Women may