Breast Augmentation Increases Quality of Life, Study Shows
Improved satisfaction, well-being, and sexual functioning.
Breast Augmentation can provide a patient with a way to improve the way her figure looks. According to new research, that same procedure can help improve the way she feels about herself as well.
A study released in the July issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) official medical journal, demonstrates that breast augmentation can have a significant effect on the patient’s quality of life.
Forty-one women were given the BREAST-Q questionnaire six months prior
to, and again six months after, undergoing breast augmentation surgery. The questionnaire measures six areas:
- Satisfaction with Breasts
- Satisfaction with Overall Outcome
- Psychosocial Well-Being
- Sexual Well-Being
- Physical Well-Being
- Satisfaction with Care
Of these six areas, three of them showed a significant increase. Scored on a 0-to-100 scale, the results showed:
- Satisfaction with Breasts: 27 Pre-Surgery vs. 70 Post-Surgery
- Psychosocial Well-Being: 45 Pre-Surgery vs. 78 Post-Surgery
- Sexual Well-Being: 35 Pre-Surgery vs. 72 Post-Surgery
Breast Augmentation is the most popular cosmetic procedure performed in the United States. According to the study’s lead author, ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Colleen M. McCarthy, MD, these findings reveal the importance of the outcome of the surgery.
“This means that, more than ever before, it is vital to provide reliable and valid evidence regarding patient outcomes of breast augmentation, especially…health-related quality of life and patient satisfaction,” wrote Dr. McCarthy and her colleagues.
Dr. McCarthy and her colleagues hope that the BREAST-Q questionnaire will become a benchmark in providing real insight into patient satisfaction and their quality of life when used both in future studies as well as in clinical use, because of its ability to “capture the impact of surgery from a patient perspective.”