Abstract
The objective of this article was to compare the effect of such sociodemographic factors
as gender, age, marital status, employment status, race, and income on short- and
long-term rhinoplasty outcomes using a validated disease-specific instrument—Nasal
Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale, as well as complication and revision
rates. Patients who underwent a functional (+/− cosmetic) rhinoplasty with the senior
author between January, 1 2012, and September 9, 2017, and had both a preoperative
and at least one postoperative NOSE score, were included in the study. Sociodemographic
variables of binary gender, age, marital status, employment status, race, and income
based on zip code were collected. The primary outcomes were the differences between
the preoperative and postoperative NOSE scores with short-term (less than 3 months)
and longer-term (greater than 3 months) follow-up. Secondary outcomes were general
complications and specifically revision surgery. Standard descriptive statistics,
as well as univariable linear and logistic regressions, were conducted with each outcome
measure. A total of 341 patients were included in this study. No individual patient-level
variables were found to significantly affect the short- or longer-term average change
in NOSE scores, although older age trended toward significance in longer-term average
change in NOSE scores (p = 0.07). No factors significantly affected the rate of complications or revision
surgery in this cohort. The authors found improvement in NOSE scores after rhinoplasty
was not related to factors of age, gender, race, employment status, income, and marital
status. This cohort also did not demonstrate differential rates in complications or
revision surgery based on sociodemographic variables.
Keywords
rhinoplasty - sociodemographic factors - outcomes - complication rate
