CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2022; 49(04): 488-493
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1744417
Breast/Trunk
Original Article

A Comparative Analysis of Patient Satisfaction and Cosmetic Outcomes after Breast Reconstruction through BREAST-Q and the Judgment of Medical Panels: Does it Reflect Well in Terms of Aesthetics in Korean Patients?

1   Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Seoul, Korea
,
1   Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Seoul, Korea
,
Sang Gue Kang
1   Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Seoul, Korea
› Author Affiliations
Funding This work was supported by the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund.

Abstract

Background Currently, the BREAST-Q can effectively measure patient's satisfaction on the quality of life from the patient's perspective in relation to different type of breast reconstruction. However, evaluation of patient satisfaction and cosmetic outcomes in breast reconstruction may have potential to led bias.

Methods To maximize the benefits of using BREAST-Q to evaluate clinical outcome, we performed comparative study focused on the correlation between postoperative BREAST-Q and cosmetic outcomes assessed by medical professionals. For the current analysis, we used three postoperative BREAST-Q scales (satisfaction with breast, psychosocial well-being, and sexual well-being). The Ten-Point Scale by Visser et al was applied to provide reproducible grading of the postoperative cosmetic outcomes of the breast. The system includes six subscales that measured overall aesthetic outcome, volume, shape, symmetry, scarring, and nipple-areolar complex. The photographic assessments were made by five medical professionals who were shown photographs on a computer screen in a random order. Obtained data were stored in Excel and evaluated by Spearman's correlations using SPSS Statistics.

Results We enrolled 92 women in this study, 10 did not respond to all scales of postoperative BREAST-Q, the remaining 82 women had undergone breast reconstruction. The correlation between BREAST-Q score and aesthetic score measured by Ten-Point Scale for the three BREAST-Q scales all show positive values in Spearman's correlation coefficient.

Conclusion A significant correlation without any bias observed was found between the patient's satisfaction measured by BREAST-Q after breast reconstruction and the medical expert's aesthetic evaluation.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: S.G.K. and W.J.S. Data curation: W.J.C. Formal analysis: S.G.K. and W.J.S. Methodology: S.G.K. Project administration: W.J.C. Writing- original draft: W.J.C., S.G.K., and W.J.S. Writing-review & editing: W.J.S.


Ethical Approval

Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained for the retrospective chart review of consecutive, breast reconstruction surgery cases performed at a single academic medical center (IRB file No. 2017-09-020 SCHUH).


Patient Consent

The patient provided written informed consent for the publication and the use of his images.




Publication History

Article published online:
30 July 2022

© 2022. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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