ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Body contouring surgery (BCS) is becoming increasing popular for aesthetic and reconstructive purposes, particularly among patients with massive weight loss (MWL). However, data on quality of life (QoL) following the surgery are limited, especially long-term QoL. OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluated the effect of BCS on QoL and the durability of this effect over time. METHODS: QoL was measured with the Body-QoL® instrument at 3 time points among consecutively treated patients: the day before BCS, 1 to 9 months postoperatively (short term), and 1 to 2.7 years postoperatively (long term). Total Body-QoL scores were compiled, as were scores for the instrument's main domains: body satisfaction, sex life, self-esteem and social performance, and physical symptoms. Scores were examined for the entire study population and separately for the cosmetic and MWL cohorts. RESULTS: Fifty-seven of the 112 patients participated in the short-term assessment and 84 in the long-term assessment. Total Body-QoL scores increased significantly (P < 0.0001), from 44.0 ± 14.1 preoperatively to 85.5 ± 17.5 short-term postoperatively and to 84.4 ± 12.7 long-term postoperatively. Scores for the 2 postoperative assessments did not differ significantly. Similar results were observed for scores on each separate domain. Although preoperative scores were lower for the MWL cohort than the cosmetic cohort (33.9 ± 15.6 vs 46.1 ± 12.8; P = 0.0002), they improved substantially after BCS, approaching scores for the cosmetic cohort. CONCLUSIONS: QoL increases significantly after BCS. This favorable outcome remained stable throughout long-term follow-up and was true for the cosmetic and MWL cohorts.
Subject(s)
Body Contouring/psychology , Patient Satisfaction , Quality of Life , Self Concept , Weight Loss , Adult , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Middle Aged , Postoperative Period , Treatment Outcome , Young AdultABSTRACT
Introducción: La calidad de vida es uno de los resultados en cirugía de contorno corporal más importantes. La evidencia sobre la calidad de vida de estos pacientes a largo plazo es escasa. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar si la calidad de vida obtenida en el postoperatorio temprano posterior a la cirugía de contorno corporal se mantiene a largo plazo. Métodos: Se diseñó un estudio de cohorte prospectiva compuesta por pacientes postoperados de cirugía de contorno corporal con más de un año de seguimiento. La calidad de vida fue medida con el instrumento Body-Qol®. Se compararon los puntajes preoperatorios, postoperatorios tempranos y postoperatorios tardíos. Se realizó el análisis estadístico con las pruebas de Kruskal-Wallis y Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Resultados: La cohorte se compuso de 112 pacientes con un seguimiento a largo plazo del 75%. En toda la cohorte la calidad de vida mejoró entre el preoperatorio (43,9 ± 14,1 puntos) y ambas mediciones postoperatorias (85,2 ± 16,8 postoperatorio temprano y 83,6 ± 13,5 postoperatorio tardío), siendo estadísticamente significativo (p < 0,0001). Entre el postoperatorio temprano y tardío no existió diferencia (p = 0,112). El análisis por dominios demostró la misma tendencia. Los pacientes con pérdida masiva de peso tuvieron puntajes preoperatorios menores, pero igualaron a la población estética en ambas mediciones postoperatorias. Conclusiones: La calidad de vida mejora significativamente posterior a la cirugía de contorno corporal de forma temprana, y esta mejoría es estable en el tiempo. Esto se observa tanto en los pacientes estéticos como en los posteriores a la pérdida masiva de peso.
Introduction: One of the most important outcomes in patients undergoing body-contouring surgery is quality of life. Data on long-term quality of life is deficient. The main purpose of this study is to determine if short-term QoL after body contouring surgery maintains in the long-term follow up. Methods: A cohort study was designed; patients with at least one-year follow-up from the surgery were included. Quality of life was measured with the Body-Qol© instrument. All patients answered the preoperative Body-Qol© and at least one measurement after one year of follow-up from body contouring surgery. The preoperative scores, short-term scores and long-term follow-up scores were compared. The statistical analysis was made with Kruskal-Wallis y Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Results: The cohort was integrated by 112 patients; the long-term follow-up was of 75%. Quality of life improved between the preoperative measure (43.9 ± 14.1 points) and both short-term and long-term measures (85.2 ± 16.8 early postoperative y 83.6 ± 13.5 late postoperative), which was statistically significant (P< .0001). There was no difference between the short-term and long-term measures (P = .112). The domain analysis demonstrated the same tendency. Massive weight loss patients had lower preoperative scores but improved more after BCS, reaching almost cosmetic values. Conclusions: Quality of life improves soon after surgery and is stable over time. This was observed for both massive weight loss and cosmetic patients.
