725 Delphi Consensus to Improve Patient Safety in the Aesthetic Injectables Market: Consensus, Controversies and the 5Ps Framework

Abstract

Abstract Aim The rapid growth of the aesthetic injectables sector presents a public health challenge given limited regulations to date. This study aimed to establish agreed proposals from industry experts and practitioners to uphold and safeguard patient safety. Method A Delphi consensus design was adopted comprising three survey rounds. Industry practitioners and experts were invited to suggest proposals to improve patient safety. We used the MoSCoW prioritization technique to aid practitioners in attributing importance and significance to proposals. Consensus was defined a priori as 75%. Results One-hundred-and-twenty-two practitioners completed Round 1, 100 completed Round 2 and 51 completed Round 3. A total of 38 proposals were identified after consolidation and removal of duplicates from Round 1. Round 2 established consensus on 16 items, and 18 items went to Round 3 but consensus was not achieved on all these items. Of the 38 proposals initially made, a series of five overarching themes emerged as fundamental for stakeholders. Issues relating to patients, practitioner skills or competence, product type and storage, place of practice and promotion techniques were the key themes. From these we propose and evaluate the five Ps framework: Patient, Practitioner, Product, Place and Promotion. Conclusions Our Delphi consensus study establishes consensus for 16 key proposals to improve patient safety. The study also highlights areas of controversy and proposes the novel 5Ps framework to help appraise the aesthetics industry.