The Relationship of Urological and Psychological Problems with Circumcision – A Cross-sectional Study

Objective: Circumcision is one of the most common surgical procedures in the world which is performed for various reasons. The aim is to investigate whether people's satisfaction with circumcision, their perspectives on circumcision, and whether there is a connection between circumcision and psychological/urological problems. Materials and Methods: Between 21 March 2023- 10 April 2023, 1009 men aged between 18- 50 who volunteered to participate in the survey were included in the study. Demographic structures of the people (age, education, income status), age of circumcision, by whom, where and with what type of anesthesia; problems during circumcision, satisfaction with circumcision, any sexual and psychological problems and the relationship of this problem with circumcision were investigated. Results: Mean age of 1009 participants was 32.02±9.15 and mean age of circumcision was 6.18±3.10. 269 (26.7%) men stated that they experienced circumcision complications and 145 (14.4%) stated that they were not satisfied with circumcision. 267 men (26.5%) had sexual or urological problems, and 274 (27.2%) had psychological problems, but the relationship of both problems with circumcision was not significant. Both sexual/urological problems and psychological problems were found to be significantly higher in the group satisfied with circumcision (both p:0.000, p<0.05). The relationships between the characteristics of the circumcision performed (circumcision age, anesthesia method, circumcision site and the person performing it) and urological/sexual problems were found to be significant (all p<0.05). Conclusion: This cross-sectional study supports the hypothesis that circumcision has no relationship with urological/andrological or psychological problems. However, although circumcision is a relatively simple and frequently performed surgical procedure, characteristics such as the age at which the circumcision was performed, the type of anesthesia, the place where it was performed, and the person performing the circumcision are important in order to avoid future urological/sexual problems.