One in seven Taiwanese women aged above 60 have had a hysterectomy, an expert in obstetrics and gynecology said yesterday, indicating that prevalence of the operation is more moderate than in Britain and the US.
Gynecologist Hsu Ching-yuan (徐金源) of Taipei's Mackay Memorial Hospital noted at a medical seminar, however, that in Taiwan the prevalence of hysterectomy appears to have increased.
In the seminar held by the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology on modern gynecology and biological technology, Hsu said that in 1992, some 7 percent to 10 percent of women aged between 40 and 60 in the Taiwan region had undergone the uterus-removal operation.
In comparison, 30 percent of women aged under 60 in the US and Australia had had hysterectomies and 20 percent in Britain, according to Hsu.
Hsu cited statistics from 1998 to 2000 of the Bureau of National Health Insurance showing that there were 26 hysterectomies carried out among every 10,000 female citizens on the island during the two-year period, while the hysterectomy prevalence among women aged above 60 then was about one in seven.
However, the figures appear to have grown every year for the last few years, said the gynecologist. He indicated that research reports show that the number of hysterectomies performed at a local unnamed medical center has doubled in 10 years.
According to Hsu, the trend reveals a potential problem in Taiwan's medical treatment system in that more hysterectomies are being performed than are necessary.
Hsu said that a report released last July by the Taiwan Health Reform Foundation shows that nearly 20 percent of the hysterectomies carried out in Taiwan are performed unnecessarily.
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