Project 415543

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a medical condition in females where pelvic organs, such as the uterus, bladder or bowel, fall out of normal position and press into the vagina. POP will affect up to half of Canadian women in their lifetime, usually in relation to older age, higher body weight, and birthing children. Affected women often experience urine leakage, physical discomfort, embarrassment, and decreased quality of life. Surgery to correct POP is common, and approaches can be broadly divided into those that keep the uterus intact and those that remove the uterus from the patient's body. At present, we do not have enough high quality scientific evidence on which approach can best fix POP and restore quality of life, nor on the reasons women prefer to keep or remove their uterus during surgery. Our study will follow over 200 patients at the Pelvic Floor Clinic in Calgary, Alberta from their initial visit to 8 weeks after surgery to evaluate health outcomes and compare decision-making experiences between women who choose to keep versus remove their uterus during POP surgery. Our diverse team of doctors, researchers, and patient partners will collect study data using medical charts, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews. Data on health outcomes will be statistically analyzed, and data on patient experiences will be analyzed by identifying themes across responses. As the Canadian baby boom generation ages, the number of women with POP is expected to increase and research on POP is needed to guide decision-making. Our study will address this need, and will provide women contemplating surgery for POP and their care providers with trusted information on the risks and benefits of each surgical approach. Our findings will also help care providers understand how patients think about, and decide upon, whether to keep or remove their uterus, which may improve how they counsel and educate patients about surgical decisions.