Do False Beliefs Predict Increased Circumcision Satisfaction in Men?

摘要

Medical male circumcision has been adopted by the WHO, and other professionalpublic health and medical bodies, as a vital weapon in the fight against HIV.This has prompted a large body of research into the acceptability of the procedure, attitudes to it, and barriers to it. Asystematic review of these studies found that satisfaction withcircumcision is strongly associated with having accurate knowledge about it. Asurvey-based paper by Earp, Sardi and Jellison entitled “False beliefs predict increased circumcision satisfaction in a sampleof US American men ” is the only one to find the opposite. It thereforemerits scrutiny. The present article presentsthe results of a critical examination of the study. Serious flaws werediscovered. Half of the small number of10 “true/false” statements used in its survey are questionable. Allthe large body of literature that contradicts the findings of Earp andco-workers is ignored. Importantly, thecrucial question about whether dissatisfied circumcised males hold falsebeliefs about circumcision is not considered. Unlike most of the researchon the acceptability of circumcision, the study is not motivated by a desire to evaluate the likely effectivenessof a public health measure, or how best to implement it. Rather it appears to be an attempt by a prominentanti-circumcision activist and hisassociates to generate a body of literature that they can then cite to further their cause. Considering this, and the serious flaws it contains, thestudy should be dismissed as misleading, biased and undermining public health.