Effect of Patient Age on Decisional Regret After Laparoscopic Hysterectomy

To compare long-term decision regret between younger (30 years or younger) and older (31-49 years) patients who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy for benign disease.

We conducted a matched retrospective cohort study to analyze patients who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomies for benign indications from 2009 to 2016. Respondents completed surveys including two validated decision regret scales: one measuring surgical decision regret and the other measuring loss-of-fertility regret. Participant aged was dichotomized as 30 years or younger and 31-49 years. Chi square, Fisher exact, and Wilcoxon rank sum tests and logistic regression were used to compare groups.

Two hundred eighty-seven participants were successfully contacted, and 241 completed the survey (84.0%). Seventy-seven respondents (32.0%) were aged 30 years or younger, and 164 (68.0%) were aged 31-49 years. The average time since surgery was 7.2 years (±2.2 years; range 3.7-12.1 years). Participants aged 30 years or younger regretted both undergoing surgery (32.5% vs 9.1%, P<.001; OR 4.8, 95% CI, 2.3-9.8) and loss of fertility (39.0% vs 13.4%, P<.001, OR 4.1, 95% CI, 2.2-7.8) at significantly higher rates than participants aged 31-49 years. Overall, 83.1% of younger participants agreed that hysterectomy was the right choice compared with 97% of older participants (P<.001). Higher rates of surgical and loss-of-fertility regret were seen in participants with self-reported pelvic pain (P=.003, P=.011), preoperative diagnosis of endometriosis (P=.037, P=.046), and postoperative complications (P=.043, P<.001). Although time since hysterectomy did not affect rate of surgical regret (P=.138), participants further from their hysterectomies had lower rates of loss-of-fertility regret (P=.003). Patient age remained significantly associated with both surgical regret (adjusted OR 2.9 (95% CI, 1.3-6.5) and loss-of-fertility regret (adjusted OR 2.8 (95% CI, 1.3-6.0) on multivariable logistic regression.

Participants aged 30 years or younger were more likely to regret their decision to undergo hysterectomy than participants aged 31-49 years, regardless of parity, prior sterilization, or previous treatment.