Psychosexual adjustment following sterilization: a prospective study on Chinese women

The present study aimed to identify significant predictors of Chinese women's psychosexual adjustment after sterilization. One hundred fifteen multiparous Chinese women, aged 25-51 years, were interviewed before and after elective laparoscopic or postpartum sterilization. Eight-seven women were also interviewed about their pshychosexual adjustment at 1 year after sterilization. Results showed that the fear of negative evaluation by others, family cohesion and adaptability, and preoperative psychological distress were robust predictors of adverse psychosexual outcome immediately and 1 year after sterilization. There was significant improvement in women's mental health following sterilization, and their sexual adjustment such as coital frequency and sexual satisfaction were not adversely affected at 1 year follow-up. Women with either elective or postpartum sterilization had similar adjustment throughout, except the latter group tended to experience more physical discomfort at 1 year follow-up. About 3.4% of the women experienced regret at 12 months after sterilization.