Deformities are very disabling and disfiguring. In spite of this, there have been a number of people who have not been willing to undergo reconstructive surgery to have their deformities corrected. There are various psychosocial issues involved in the rejection of surgery by these people who do not want their deformities corrected. Other than the psychosocial issues involved, there could also be socioeconomic reasons for the refusal of surgery.
In a society where people are driven by the need to beautify themselves and try to keep themselves look beautiful with hair transplant surgeries and other cosmetic surgeries, there needs to be some reasons as to why people reject reconstructive surgeries that only aims to try and make them as 'normal' as possible by correcting their deformities.
Deformity correction refused.
There are many people who actually refuse surgery even though most of these surgeries are offered free by many of the Non governmental organizations. This is the usual case in almost all conditions where people want to have surgery to get themselves treated. There are also no relevant studies that talk about those who do not want to have surgery done.
The patients' right
Though this involves the issue of the patient's right in refusing surgery, one should try to understand and analyze the reasons for their refusal of surgery and in no way tries to force them to undergo surgery. There are some organizations that may try to force people to undergo surgeries because of the fact that they are paid to do a number of surgeries and they want to achieve targets, but this is highly unethical.
Increasing the uptake of services.
Identification of the reasons for the refusal of surgery can also result in identification of the barriers to reconstructive surgical services. Community-based health-education programs to improve the uptake of existing services can address this issue. This will also help the community to benefit because when the deformities are corrected, the people will have more capacity for being useful to the society and becoming productive citizens.
Data of people refusing surgeries
In a research done to assess the reasons for the refusal of free Cataract surgeries in Kenya, it was found that a rumor of 'blinding eye surgery' was found to be the reason for the refusal of patients for surgery. In another research done in Nepal where eye surgeries were offered, there were many refusals and this was again due to a host of reasons. The most frequent reasons given for not accepting surgery were economic and logistical constraints followed by fear of surgery and lack of time
There are different deformities that can occur due to various problems including damage to the nerves, accidents and also many other problems. Each of these deformities can be disfiguring and they can lead to loss of function and further damage. One should make sure that they are adequately treated by surgery to prevent further damage. In spite of this, many people with these deformities do not want to undergo surgery.
About Author / Additional Info: