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Rhinoplasty as a Medicalized Phenomenon: A 25-Center Survey on Quality of Life Before and After Cosmetic Rhinoplasty

Aesthetic Plastic Surgery volume 38, pages 615–619 (2014)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 10 December 2014

Abstract

Background

Cosmetic surgery, including rhinoplasty, has been dramatically increasing in Iran through the last two decades. It is performed mainly on the youth for the purpose of beauty, an area not directly related to medicine but strongly medicalized. This study aimed to explore the effects of rhinoplasty on the quality of life experienced by individuals who have undergone the surgery.

Methods

From all the plastic surgery clinics in Teheran, 25 were selected randomly as sites for the study. In the next step, 110 patients who had undergone rhinoplasty were selected randomly from these clinics. Only patients whose surgery had been performed 3 to 18 months before the interview were included in the statistical population. Data were collected through a Likert-type questionnaire that queries three major quality-of-life dimensions: general benefit, social support, and physical health. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS.

Results

The mean scores for quality of life before and after surgery were 66.54 and 61.11, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.008), showing a decline in quality of life after rhinoplasty. Whereas the mean score for social support and physical health decreased, the score for general benefit increased after the surgery. The main motivating factors for surgery were external factors (e.g., friends, family). In addition, the date of the surgery and the time of the interview were positively correlated. In other words, the longer the time since surgery, the greater was the increase in the patients’ satisfaction and quality of life.

Conclusions

The overall quality of life among the statistical population decreased. This could be attributed to unnecessary surgeries, medical errors, and performance of rhinoplasty because of its recognized popularity. The reduction in social support may have resulted from unacceptable consequences of rhinoplasty, particularly in terms of appearance, and reactions of family and peer group. The physical health of the respondents was negatively affected by rhinoplasty. Malfunction of the upper respiratory system after rhinoplasty is a known main reason for the negative effect of rhinoplasty on the quality of life. Correlations between the times of the surgery and the interview suggest a long-term rather than an immediate assessment of effects that such surgeries have on the quality of life.

Level of Evidence V

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Fig. 1
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Notes

  1. Glassco Benefit List

  2. Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation

  3. Dairfford Appearance Scale 59

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Acknowledgments

This study was the part of a project at the School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The authors thank all the study participants for their contributions.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Economics and Management, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Marita Mohammadshahi

  2. Department of Health Economics and Management, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Sciences, Poursina St, 14155-6446, Tehran, Iran

    Abolghasem Pourreza

  3. Department of Health Economics and Management, School of health Management, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Parvaneh Heidari Orojlo

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mahmood Mahmoodi

  5. Department of Health Economics and Management, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Feizallah Akbari

Authors
  1. Marita Mohammadshahi
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  2. Abolghasem Pourreza
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  4. Mahmood Mahmoodi
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Correspondence to Abolghasem Pourreza.

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Mohammadshahi, M., Pourreza, A., Orojlo, P.H. et al. Rhinoplasty as a Medicalized Phenomenon: A 25-Center Survey on Quality of Life Before and After Cosmetic Rhinoplasty. Aesth Plast Surg 38, 615–619 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-014-0323-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-014-0323-5

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