According to HealthDay News, a new study finds that older patients and people who are being treated for depression are most likely to be satisfied with the results of their facial plastic surgery. According to the researchers, people’s natural pessimism or optimism surprisingly had no effect on how pleased a patient will be with their surgical outcome.
During the study, which was published in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, Dr. Jill L. Hessler and her colleagues at Premier Plastic Surgery in Palo Alto, CA, surveyed 51 patients who underwent elective facial surgery. The patients were asked questions based on the levels of optimism, demographics, and overall satisfaction with their specific cosmetic procedure. The surveys were issued first immediately following surgery, and then one more time four to six months following the procedure.
According to the findings, patients aged 53 and older were more satisfied with their results than their younger counterparts. The authors note that this may be because an older demographic has a more realistic idea of the surgery outcome. In addition, patients who reported being treated for depression also were more satisfied with their results.”The ability to preoperatively identify patient characteristics (psychological, social or demographic) that might impact the subjective perception of surgical outcome and predict dissatisfaction with facial plastic surgery could be highly useful to surgeons,” says Hessler.This study is important in determining how patient character type will affect their satisfaction with the outcome of an elective procedure. By approaching different patient personalities in different manners, surgeons may help patients feel more comfortable with their surgery results.