Letter: Patient satisfaction in general practice.

Abstract

Correspondents are urged to write briefly so that readers may be offered as wide a selection of letters as possible. So many are now being received that the omission of some is inevitable. Letters should be signed personally by all their authors. results were found when patients had had both anterior colporrhaphy and posterior colpoperineornhaphy in conjunction witih the hysterectomy. The desire for sexual intercourse after operation was found to be much less for 6 (12%), less for 10 (20%b), the same ,for 22 (45%t), greater for 8 (16%O/), and mucih greater for 3 (6%). These changes were unrelated to the patient's age. We feel that these results ihave been informative, particularly as there is very little recent literature on patients' sexual habits foll1owing routine gynaeological surgery. A Polish palper1 has shown that complaints of dyspareunia increase twofold following a Manchester repair and Tunnadine2 has reported on severe sexual disturbance following ,hysterectomy in two patients. Riahards3 has described a post-hystrectomy syndrome consisting mainly of depression but, in addition, out of 28 young patients libido was reduced in 10 but improved in ninoe. Clearly more investigations in this field are needed and perhaps questions on sexual function should become pert of every medical history. In order to pursue our own studies we now give patients on leaving hospital a sheet of notes on sexual relations and offer a comprehensive follow-up service for those with sexual problems.-We are, etc.,