The influence of surgery of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical carcinoma on quality of life

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to determine to what extent cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer surgery affect a woman's mental state and how does it affect her interpersonal relationships, sexual activity, family life, and her professional and social activity. The clinical material consisted of 153 women aged 20 and 47, who were diagnosed and treated by the Chair of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow between 2006 and 2010, and were confirmed to have CIN3 and cervical carcinoma stage IA. An oryginally constructed survey form consisting of 108 questions and divided into 5 research stages was implemented. H.J. Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire, and Physical and Mental State Questionnaire KS-40. RESULTS: The diagnosis generated a change in the patients' self-images: prior to the diagnosis, 74.6% considered themselves to be completely healthy, whereas after the diagnosis was given 40.5% of respondents had the feeling of illness, and 33.3% of the moderately illness. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of CIN and microinvasive cervical cancer, and surgical procedure, invokes a feeling of being unwell in a woman who previously felt completely healthy, and significantly impedes quality of life. The diagnostic-therapeutic management induces general anxiety, worry about preservation of the generative organ, sexual intercourse, fertility, changes in the dynamics of the family and in the professional field, as well as changes in interpersonal relationships.