THE EFFECTS OF CIRCUMCISION ON THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between circumcision and health perceptions among gay and bisexual men in Portugal by assessing the prevalence of circumcision, and by comparing differences between circumcised and uncircumcised gay and bisexual men in relation to their physical and mental health outcomes. In this study 500 self-identified gay and bisexual men participated (86.2% and 13.8% respectively), mean age = 35.51 (SD=11.70), who were surveyed using the following instruments: a socio-demographic questionnaire, a self-report of circumcision, the SF36 for physical and mental health, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Results indicate that the prevalence for circumcision among all men was 23.6%, but overall self-perception of physical health condition was poorer for circumcised men than for uncircumcised men, and this was also the case for mental health outcomes, namely distress, anxiety, nervousness, agitation, hopeless and sadness, and having been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder over the last three years. Regarding the HIV status, the majority of HIV- infected men were uncircumcised and this difference was also significant (p=0.020). Therefore, we have concluded that circumcision adversely affects the emotional and physical well-being of gay and bisexual men.