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Women seeking minimally invasive facial procedures likely to have experienced major life event
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Women who sought nonsurgical facial rejuvenation were often highly educated and had experienced a recent major life event, according to research presented at the American Association of Plastic Surgeons annual meeting in Miami Beach.
“Minimally invasive cosmetic procedures are increasing dramatically in the United States because they offer less down time and lower cost to more invasive procedures such as face lifts,” researcher Joseph F. Sobanko, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, told Healio.com. “Patients seeking these procedures are often influenced by friends and media for seeking these interventions. Most interestingly is that more than 40% of patients experienced significant life-events, such as divorce or loss of a job within the prior year.”
Joseph F. Sobanko
Sobanko and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania studied 29 women (mean age, 50.5 years) who presented for nonsurgical facial rejuvenation between September 2011 through 2013. Patients with prior facial cosmetic or reconstructive procedures, body dysmorphic disorder, craniofacial abnormalities or facial scarring were excluded from the study. SPSS analytics software was used to conduct standard descriptive statistics.
The majority of patients were married (55.2%), employed (82.8%), had children (65.5%) and a college or advanced degree (96.4%). Periorbital (62.1%), malar (44.8%) or neck (20.7%) were the most requested facial rejuvenations, and women rated skin care as highly important (9.4 on a 10 scale). Sunscreen usage (93.1%), spa (24.1%) and medical esthetician (27.6%) facials were the most popular regimens.
Recent life-changing events were the reason for treatments, according to 41% of patients, while 37.9% reported feeling pressure to look younger in the workplace. There were 62.1% of patients considering future facial surgery, and 48.3% were anticipating future treatments.
“We are also following this cohort of patients to investigate whether the injectable treatments improve quality of life and other metrics such as self-esteem,” Sobanko said.
Disclosure: Researcher David B. Sarwer, PhD, reported consulting relationships with Allergan, BaroNova, Enteromedic, Ethicon Endo-Surgery and Galderma.
For more information:
Taglienti AJ. Defining the Population of Patients Seeking Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures in an Academic Setting. American Association of Plastic Surgeons annual meeting 2014; April 5-8, Miami Beach.