Psychosocial characteristics and motivational factors in woman seeking cosmetic breast augmentation surgery

Abstract

Background/Aim. There are various opinions regarding the factors motivating women to undergo breast augmentation. The aim of this study was to estimate motivation for augmentation mammaplasty (AM), self-esteem and body image perception in breast augmentation patients. Methods. This prospective study involved AM patients operated in the Clinical Center of Vojvodina during a 3-year period. A total of 45 patients responded to our package of questionnaires designed to assess motivation for surgery, self-esteem level and body image perception. Those patients were compared to the control group of women who did not want to change their breast size, and who were similar in their age, social status and education level. Our package of questionnaires included a general questionnaire, Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS) and Rosenberg?s Self-Esteem Scale. Results. Differences in marital status, educational level, habitation and employment status were statistically insignificant, but there was a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) in the operated women. Considering motives for surgery, a few factors were distinguished: desire to feel more feminine (82.2%), confident (75.5%) and attractive (73.3%), to feel less shy with men (64.4%), to improve their sex life (46.5%), teasing history (42.2%) and easier to find a partner (11.1%) and job (2.2%). Both groups demonstrated a high self-esteem level, but in the AM group results were lower than in the control group. The mean current self-rating by the PFRS in the group AM was lower than in the control group (4.28 ? 1.3 vs 5.12 ? 1.23, respectively) and this coincided with lower BMI in the AM group. The women in the AM group had chosen significantly smaller body size as maximally attractive, and had chosen a narrower attractive body size range than the women in the control group. Conclusion. Preoperative evaluation of patients? motives for surgery can help surgeons to exclude woman with unrealistic expectations and different psychological problems.Uvod/Cilj. Postoje razlicita misljenja o ciniocima koji motivisu zene da se podvrgnu operaciji uvecanja grudi. Cilj ove studije bio je da se procene motivi za operaciju uvecanja grudi, nivo samopouzdanja kod tih pacijentkinja i licni dozivljaj sopstvene slike tela. Metode. Ova prospektivna studija obuhvatila je pacijentkinje kojima je uradjena augmentaciona mamoplastika (grupa AM) u Klinickom centru Vojvodine u toku tri godine. Na paket upitnika koji je osmisljen da se procene motivi za operaciju, nivo samopouzdanja i licni dozivljaj slike tela odgovorilo je 45 pacijentkinja. Kontrolnu grupu cinile su zene slicnog zivotnog doba, socijalnog statusa i nivoa obrazovanja koje nisu zelele da menjaju velicinu grudi. U istrazivanju su koristeni opsti upitnik, Rozenbergov upitnik za procenu samopostovanja i Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS) test. Rezultati. Nisu utvrdjene statisticki znacajne razlike izmedju dve grupe zena u sociodemografskim varijablama (bracnom statusu, nivou obrazovanja, mestu stanovanja i zaposlenju), ali je utvrdjen znacajno nizi indeks telesne mase (BMI) kod zena koje su zelele uvecanje grudi. Najcesce navodjeni motivi za operaciju bili su: zelja za povecanjem zenstvenosti (82,2%), samopouzdanja (75,5%) i atraktivnosti (73,3%), zatim smanjenje stidljivosti u kontaktu sa muskarcima (64,4%), poboljsanje seksualnih odnosa (46,5%) i smanjeno zadirkivanje zbog izgleda grudi od strane okoline (42,2%), kao i lakse nalazenje partnera (11,1%) i posla (2,2%). Obe grupe pokazale su visok nivo samopouzdanja, ali su dobijene vrednosti testa bile znacajno nize u grupi AM. Srednja vrednost dobijena u samoprocenjivanju slike tela po PFRS skali bila je znacajno niza u grupi AM nego u kontrolnoj grupi (4,28 ? 1,3 vs 5,12 ? 1,23), sto koincidira sa vrednostima BMI. Zene u grupi AM pokazale su statisticki znacajno nize vrednosti u proceni najmrsavije i najdeblje atraktivne figure prema PFRS skali, i imale su uzi raspon procene atraktivnosti figura. Zakljucak. Preoperativna procena cinilaca koji upucuju zene da se odluce za uvecanje grudi treba da pomogne hirurzima da iskljuce one sa nerealnim ocekivanjima i razlicitim tendencijama ka psihickim poremecajima.