Evaluation of relationships, self-evaluation and self-esteem of women’s with histerectomy

Purpose: To evaluate the marital relationships, the thoughts about femininity and sexual identity, and the self-evaluation and changes in the self-esteem of women having a hysterectomy operation, during the period of both before and after surgery. Material and methods: This study was designed according to the principles of the comparative descriptive research carried out between 15 January 2013 – 15 June 2014 at Ondokuz Mayis University, Faculty of Medicine Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The power sample size was determined to be 72. The research included 88 contactable women who were admitted to the clinic at the time of the research, who had agreed to participate in the study, and who lived in the province where the research was conducted (as the final tests were done via home visits). A questionnaire form, the Coopersmith Self Esteem Scale, and the Social Comparison Scale were used in the collection of the data. Descriptive statistics and x2 and Paired t tests were used in the data analysis. Results: Changes in the self-esteem of women having a hysterectomy were examined before surgery, one week after surgery, and three months after surgery; while there weren’t any changes in self-esteem one week after surgery, a significant decrease in the women’s self-esteem was discovered three months after surgery (p<0.01). Conclusion: It was discovered that a change in self-evaluation and self-esteem occurs after hysterectomy surgery in women.