A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS OF VASECTOMY

To determine possible psychosoc effects of vasectomy (VA), 48 M's were asked to complete Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories & questionnaire's prior to undergoing voluntary sterilization by VA. 35 of the initial sample completed R's & MMPIs between one and 2 yrs after the VA, & partial information was obtained for 6 others. With one exception, these subjects expressed satisfaction with the results. Most reported either no change or positive change in their sexual, personal and fam lives. The RI data support the favorable findings from Interview & 7 surveys of previous investigators. 7 subjects, however, did report some decreased sexual functioning. MMPI results further indicated increases in psycho'cal disturbance in 15 of the 35 retested subjects, while only 2 showed corresponding decreases. Such results support the negative observations of some clinical observers & suggest that some subjects may defensively exaggerate their postoperative satisfaction with VA. Preoperative predictors of negative emotional reactions were a 0 rating of own &/or wife's health as less than `excellent' & an elevation of Scale 1 (hypochrondriasis) of the MMPI. A more tentative predictor was a preoperative elevation on Scale 5 (masculinity-femininity) of the MMPI. An interpretation offered for further validation is that concern re somatic functioning & even slightly tenuous psychosexual identification constitute vulnerability to negative psycho'al reaction after VA.