The psychological outcome of hysterectomy

Gautam Khastgir, John Studd, José Catalán
In: Gynecological Endocrinology · 2000 · vol. 14(2) , pp. 132–141 · doi:10.3109/09513590009167672 · PMID:10836201 · W2155972243
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 15 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This review of literature found that hysterectomy itself does not cause adverse psychological outcomes, as most women improve, but psychiatric history and psychosocial issues can negatively impact results.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

The objective of this study is to review the published literature on psychological outcome of hysterectomy and oophorectomy for non-malignant indications. The relevant publications over the past 30 years until the end of 1997 were identified by a MEDLINE computer search. This was followed by hand searches of the relevant references in the literature identified by the electronic search. The published studies on the psychological outcome of hysterectomy have been selected to identify the incidence, possible causes and risk factors of psychological morbidity, and the measures that can be adopted to improve the outcome. The study showed that the majority of retrospective studies reported an adverse psychological outcome after hysterectomy. However, all prospective studies showed that the incidence of depressed mood is higher even before hysterectomy, owing to pre-existing psychiatric illness and personality and psychosocial problems, as a result of the emotional response to gynecological symptoms or as a manifestation of associated ovarian failure. Hence, the therapeutic effects of hysterectomy include improvement of mood in some but not all patients, unless proper case selection, psychiatric evaluation and preoperative counselling are arranged. An early detection of ovarian failure after hysterectomy, the initiation of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) immediately after surgery in perimenopausal women and in those undergoing oophorectomy, as well as regular follow-ups to ensure long-term compliance with HRT, would also improve the psychological outcome. In conclusion hysterectomy itself is not the cause of any adverse psychological outcome. Psychological symptoms actually improve in the majority of women, with the relief of distressing gynecological symptoms and the correction of ovarian hormone deficiency, but hysterectomy may not be of any benefit in women with prior psychiatric illness and those with personality and psychosocial problems.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (79)

Cited by (15)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK