The effect of genital aesthetic surgery on body image perception and sexual function in women

The Effect of Genital Aesthetic Surgery on Body Image Perception and Sexual Function in Women INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the effect of genital plastic surgery on women's body image perception and sexual function. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This descriptive-prospective type research was conducted with 50 women who applied to the gynecology service in a training and research hospital between November 1, 2022 and July 30, 2023. Before the surgery, women completed a socio-demographic and descriptive characteristics questionnaire, body image perception scale and female sexual function scale. The patient, whose contact information was obtained, was called again 2 months after the surgery and the body image perception scale and female sexual function scale were administered in the form of questions and answers. Frequency analysis, t test and one-way analysis of variance were used to evaluate the data. Significance was accepted as p<0.05. RESULTS: It was observed that the body perception level after genital plastic surgery was significantly higher than the pre-operative body perception, and the general level of sexual function, desire, arousal, orgasm and satisfaction levels increased significantly after the surgery. When the changes in women's postoperative sexual function scale according to age groups were examined, it was found that the desire and arousal level of the 22-30 age group was significantly higher than the 40 and above age group for the desire subscale. When the change of the sexual function scale according to educational status was examined, it was seen that the desire levels of primary school graduates were significantly lower than those of high school and university graduates, and the arousal levels of primary school graduates were significantly lower than university graduates. CONCLUSION: Female genital plastic surgery has been found to improve body image and increase sexual function in women. Since there is a relationship between seeking female genital plastic surgery and body image and female sexual functionality, improving these factors may reduce unnecessary female genital plastic surgery. Keywords: body image, cosmetic surgery, genital aesthetics, midwifery, sexual function,