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Health outcomes for inguinal hernia repair

Bupa monitors the health outcomes for a number of treatments we provide and below are the results for patients who have undergone inguinal hernia repair. The two charts summarise the changes that had occurred in Bupa patients' physical and mental health after their operations. The charts show how Bupa patients felt just before their operation and three months after it. For comparison, the general health of people of a similar age in the UK's population is included. The charts are based on a 100-point scale where low scores represent poor health and high scores represent good health.

The data to create these charts has been collected using a medically respected health questionnaire called SF-36. For more information about how Bupa is monitoring changes in health status and the SF-36 survey click here.

Changes in physical health

The following chart summarises the changes in how patients viewed their physical health after inguinal hernia repair:

Physical summary score (where a higher score equals better health)

This chart shows that Bupa patients about to have their inguinal hernia repaired have roughly similar physical health to people of a similar age in the UK, and this improves after surgery.

Because this summary chart of physical health can be broken down into four sub-categories, we are able to make more detailed observations about the physical health outcomes of Bupa patients who have undergone a inguinal hernia repair. From the SF-36 survey results we have found:

In the sub-category measuring pain, there was an average drop of 12.5 points, reflecting a reduction in pain felt by people three months after their inguinal hernia repair.

In the sub-category measuring limitations in everyday activities there was a 13-point average improvement. This shows that people feel more able to take on the physical activities which are expected of them after surgery.

In the sub-category measuring general health, there was a 3.5-point average decrease. This suggests that people feel marginally worse after their hernia repair than before. One possible explanation is that they had become increasingly less fit before their surgery, due to the hernia, and realise this after the operation when they start exercising again.

Changes in mental health

The following chart summarises the changes in how patients viewed their mental health after inguinal hernia repair:

Mental summary score (where a higher score equals better health)

This chart shows that, before their hernia repair, Bupa patients are in good mental health compared with people of a similar age in the UK. After surgery, their mental health is more similar to those of people of a similar age in the UK.

Because this summary chart of mental health can be broken down into four sub-categories, we are able to make more detailed observations about the mental health outcomes of Bupa patients who have undergone inguinal hernia repair. From the SF-36 survey results we have found:

In the sub-category measuring social functioning there is a 4.5-point average improvement, reflecting that people find they are more able to take part in social activities after surgery.

In the sub-categories measuring mental health, limitations in everyday activities due to emotional health and vitality, there was no notable change.

We hope that these collected experiences of health outcomes after inguinal hernia repair will help you to have a more meaningful conversation with your specialist. From this we hope you will feel better informed to choose the treatment option that is right for you. After all, no treatment is completely risk free and even when it is uneventful, people get better at different rates.

Click here for more information on how to interpret physical and mental health scores.

Click here for information on health outcomes for other treatments.

Click here to read about inguinal hernia repair.

Click here for more information on how Bupa is monitoring changes in health and the SF-36 questionnaire.

* Health Survey for England 1996, UK Data Archive

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