ArticleBMC women's health2023
Health professionals' and beauty therapists' perspectives on female genital cosmetic surgery: an interview study.
Article in BMC women's health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Female genital cosmetic procedures from the perspective of health practitioners: a systematic review of knowledge, attitude and practice studies.BMC women's health · 2024Pooled it
- Influencing Factors and Satisfaction with Body and Genital Image in Women Undergoing Genital Cosmetic Surgery: A Randomized, Cross-Sectional Study.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Trial
- Comparison of Sexual Function, Satisfaction, and Assertiveness in Genital Cosmetic Surgery Groups: A Randomized-Sampling Cross-Sectional Study.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Trial
- The Role of Media in Women's Demand for Genital Cosmetic Surgery: A Systematic Review.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Review
- Female genital cutting and cosmetic genital surgery: a narrative synthesis of global practices, motivations, and the influence of aesthetic ideals.International journal of impotence research · 2026Review
- Knowledge and awareness of female genital cosmetic surgery among healthcare providers: A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2026Article
- Perception of aesthetic procedures applied to the vulva in the context of the medical specialty of gynecology and obstetrics.Sexual medicine · 2026Article
- The Italian version of the Female Genital Self-Image Scale: psychometric properties and associations with sexual function and psychological health.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Attitude and knowledge of healthcare providers towards female genital cosmetic surgery: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Knowledge of Vaginal Microbiota and Its Association with Perceptions of Vulvovaginal Aesthetic Procedures Among Saudi Women.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Unbridled Advertising of Female Cosmetic Genitoplasty Procedures in the Absence of Health Policymaking in the World: An argumentation.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2024Article
- A Decade of Lawsuits Against Surgeons Performing Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery (FGCS) in Tehran, Iran.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2024Article
- Functional need or personal choice: Medical professionals' understanding and framing of performing female genital cosmetic procedures.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFemale genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) changes the structure and appearance of healthy external genitalia. We aimed to identify discourses that help explain and rationalise FGCS and to derive from them possibilities for informing clinical education.
methodsWe interviewed 16 health professionals and 5 non-health professionals who deal with women's bodies using a study-specific semi-structured interview guide. We analysed transcripts using a three-step iterative process: identifying themes relevant to indications for FGCS, identifying the discourses within which they were positioned, and categorising and theorising discourses.
resultsWe identified discourses that we categorised within four themes: Diversity and the Normal Vulva (diversity was both acknowledged and rejected); Indications for FGCS (Functional, Psychological, Appearance); Ethical Perspectives; and Reasons Women Seek FGCS (Pubic Depilation, Media Representation, Pornography, Advertising Regulations, Social Pressure, Genital Unfamiliarity).
conclusionsVulvar aesthetics constitute a social construct to which medical practice and opinion contribute and by which they are influenced; education and reform need to occur on all fronts. Resources that not only establish genital diversity but also challenge limited vulvar aesthetics could be developed in consultation with women, healthcare practitioners, mental health specialists, and others with knowledge of social constructs of women's bodies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.