Psychological Evaluation of Patients Seeking Rhinoplasty

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate different determinants of the patient's psychosocial functioning that might possibly affect the outcome of rhinoplastic surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one patients undergoing rhinoplasty, consecutively admitted to and operated upon at the Department of Otolaryngology, Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital, Turkey, were studied with regard to their psychological characteristics. RESULTS: In the patient group, Liebowitz anxiety, Liebowitz/avoidance, and Liebowitz/total scores were significantly higher than the control group (p<0.001). No significant differences were found between the patient and control groups according to Rosenberg self-esteem scale and The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. In the Quality of Life SF-36 results, significant differences were found between the patient and control groups apart from SF-36 scores of pain (p<0.05), vitality (p<0.05), social functioning (p<0.05) and emotional role difficulties (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Patient selection must be done very carefully to obviate not only physical, but also psychological postoperative complications. The SF-36 questionnaire may be of value in screening-patients for psychological problems prior to rhinoplasty.