Abstract
BackgroundIn cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery, measurement of patient-reported outcomes has become increasingly important to research efforts and clinical care. We aimed to describe how breast conditions and breast surgery impact on patient satisfaction and quality of life.MethodsWe conducted qualitative, in-depth interviews with 48 women who had undergone either breast reduction (n = 15), breast augmentation (n = 12), or breast reconstruction (n = 21) surgery in order to begin to build a theoretical understanding of patient satisfaction and quality of life in breast surgery patients. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically.ResultsThe patient interviews revealed that breast conditions and breast surgery impact women in the following six main areas: satisfaction with breasts; satisfaction with overall outcome; psychosocial well-being; sexual well-being; physical well-being; and satisfaction with the process of care. We used these six themes to form the basis of a conceptual framework of patient satisfaction and quality of life in women who undergo breast surgery.ConclusionOur conceptual framework establishes the main issues of concern for breast surgery patients. This new framework can be used to help develop local guidelines for future clinical assessment, management and measurement, establish the validity of the current management strategies, and develop evidence-based guidance for the development of new patient reported outcome measures for future outcomes research.
Highlights
In cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery, measurement of patient-reported outcomes has become increasingly important to research efforts and clinical care
BMC Women's Health 2009, 9:11 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6874/9/11 being considered as integral to understanding health outcomes [3,4,5,6,7]. Breast conditions and their associated surgical interventions have a major impact on quality of life
Our interview findings with 48 breast surgery patients indicate that breast surgery procedures can clearly affect a woman in multiple spheres of function and quality of life
Summary
In cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery, measurement of patient-reported outcomes has become increasingly important to research efforts and clinical care. Understanding the wide reaching impact of cosmetic and reconstructive breast surgery has become increasingly important for clinical research endeavors and surgical quality improvement efforts [2]. BMC Women's Health 2009, 9:11 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6874/9/11 being considered as integral to understanding health outcomes [3,4,5,6,7] Breast conditions and their associated surgical interventions have a major impact on quality of life. Few researchers have tried to understand exactly what having breast conditions means to women, and what impact surgery has on these perceptions. Women with different conditions may experience the impact of these conditions differently
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