Male sterilization in Thailand: a follow-up study

A retrospective study was conducted from May to July 1973 among all Thai men who had been vasectomized at Ramathibodi Hospital Bangkok between January 1970 and March 1973 in order to determine their physical psycho-social and sexual responses to the operation. 63% of the men responded to an invitation to be interviewed at the hospital. Their man age was 33.5 years and 86.5% were less than 40 years of age. The mean duration of marriage was 8.4 years. The vasectomized men were a relatively well educated group; half of them had at least some secondary school education. 48.1% of the men cited friends and relatives as the original source of information about vasectomies. 22.2% learned about them from mass media. The major reasons given by the men in the study for obtaining a vasectomy were economic in nature. 68% of the men reported that they or their wives had practiced some form of birth control prior to the vasectomy operation. 45.9% of the men had the operation when they reached their expressed ideal number of children and 28.1% were vasectomized after they had exceeded their ideal. Almost all of the men reported little or no pain during the operation and after the operation the great majority reported that they had no problems. All but 1 of the men said that they would select vasectomy again as their method of birth control. The overwhelming majority of the respondents reported that their health was either the same or better since the operation. The most significant negative factors associated with health was fatigue. Most of the men stated that they were happier and more comfortable since the operation. 20% said that they were more irritable since the operation. The quality of their relationships with their wives and in the work situation seemed to be relatively unchanged. Post vasectomy changes in sexual relations were found to be minimal; if occurring at all such changes were usually improvements. It was concluded that vasectomy is a safe effective and uncomplicated procedure for permanent fertility control.