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Fact sheet: Hysterectomy in the
United States, 1980 1993
Frequency of Hysterectomy
- Approximately 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year in the
United States at an estimated annual cost of more than $5 billion. More than one-fourth
of U.S. women will have this procedure by the time they are 60 years of age.
Hysterectomy is the second most frequent major surgical procedure among reproductive-aged
women.
- From 1980 through 1993, an estimated 8.6 million U.S. women had a
hysterectomy.
- The rates of hysterectomy per 1,000 women aged 15 years and older
declined slightly from 1980 (7.1) to 1987 (6.6). From 1988 to 1993, the average annual
rate was stable at 5.5. The decline observed from 1987 to 1988 is a result of changes in
the survey used to collect the data.
Women at High Risk for Hysterectomy
- From 1980 through 1993, rates of hysterectomy differed by age.
- Each year, rates were highest among women aged 40–44 years and
lowest among women aged 15–24 years.
- Of all hysterectomies, 55% were among women aged 35–49 years.
- Hysterectomy rates also differed by geographic region.
- From 1988 through 1993, almost twice as many women received
hysterectomies in the South (6.8 per 1,000 women) as in the Northeast (3.9). The average
annual rates were 5.5 in the Midwest and 4.9 in the West.
- During 1980–1993, the average age of women who had a
hysterectomy was 47.7 years in the Northeast, 44.5 in the Midwest, 44.0 in the West, and
41.6 in the South.
- Annual rates did not differ significantly by race.
Conditions Associated with Hysterectomy
- During 1988–1993, the three conditions most often associated
with hysterectomy were uterine leiomyoma ("fibroid tumors"), endometriosis, and
uterine prolapse.
- Among women less than 30 years of age, the conditions most frequently
associated with hysterectomy were menstrual disturbances and cervical
dysplasia. Among
women aged 30–34 years, endometriosis was the most frequently associated diagnosis;
among those 35–54 years, fibroid tumors; and among women 55 years and older, uterine
prolapse or cancer.
Hysterectomy Surveillance
- CDC compiles information on hysterectomies by using data from
CDC’s National Hospital Discharge Survey. This survey, which collects data on
discharges from U.S. hospitals, provides the only population-based estimates of U.S.
hysterectomy rates.
- Data from national hysterectomy surveillance can be used to increase
understanding of the relative public health importance of the conditions that lead to
hysterectomy, identify changes in clinical practice, and assist in setting biomedical
research priorities.
The complete report may be
printed by downloading the 15-page August 8, 1997, Special
Focus: Surveillance for Reproductive Health surveillance summary, Hysterectomy
Surveillance--United States, 1980–1993 (796KB PDF).
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