Background: The number of cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed in the United States has increased by 500% over the past 10 years. Most studies of psychosocial functioning following aesthetic procedures have reported high levels of patient satisfaction and improved functioning; however, nearly all these studies focused only on changes during the first posttreatment year.
Objective: This paper reports on the 2-year results of a prospective, multi-site investigation of postoperative satisfaction and changes in psychosocial status following cosmetic surgery.
Methods: One hundred patients from 8 surgical practices completed psychometric measures of body image, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem before surgery. Patients completed the same measures again at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. In addition, they reported their postoperative satisfaction as well as self-rated attractiveness at the 4 postoperative assessment points.
Results: Patients reported improvements in their overall appearance and body image, the appearance of and their degree of dissatisfaction with the feature altered by surgery, and the frequency of negative body image emotions in specific social situations through 24 months after surgery. These improvements were first evident at 3 months postoperatively and were maintained, without deterioration, through 2 years following surgery.
Conclusions: Patients reported high rates of satisfaction and improvements in body image within the first 3 months of cosmetic surgery. These improvements were well maintained through the first 2 postoperative years.