Circumcision: Is it For Sexual Health or Being Man?

Background: The procedure is most prevalent in the Muslim and Jewish population. The boys have many circumcision for many reason such as religious, medical reason and tradition in may counties. We carry out this experiment to determine knowledge, attitude and behaviour of parents about circumcision. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in department of pediatric surgery at a research and training hospital in Ankara, Turkey. The parents of 107 children under 18 years of age who attended this clinic. Results: The mean age of the children who was being circumcised was 8.16 ±1.1 (n=107, min=6.5, maks=13 years). The main reason why the mothers were planning to circumcise their male children was medical benefits (66.3%) but for the fathers the main reasons were tradition (43.9%) and religion (35.5%). There was a significant relationship between educational level of mothers and preferance of the age for circumcision (Cramer's V=0,431 p< 0.001). As educational level increased, the ratio of mothers who wanted circumcision for medical benefits increased. The parental preference (97.4%) about their child's circumcision was performed by a pediatric surgeon or urologist and expressed the reason as to intervene more quickly to the problems that may develop due to circumcision in the hospital setting (88.8%). Conclusion: It is important to provide guidance to parents about the appropriate age for circumcision, the complications and preparation of the children to the procedure.