Spatial Distribution of Cosmetic-Procedure Businesses in Two U.S. Cities: A Pilot Mapping and Validation Study

S Austin,Grace Kennedy,Kendrin Sonneville,Jeffrey Blossom,Emily Blood,Allegra Gordon

doi:10.3390/ijerph10126832

Abstract

Cosmetic procedures have proliferated rapidly over the past few decades, with over $11 billion spent on cosmetic surgeries and other minimally invasive procedures and another $2.9 billion spent on U.V. indoor tanning in 2012 in the United States alone. While research interest is increasing in tandem with the growth of the industry, methods have yet to be developed to identify and geographically locate the myriad types of businesses purveying cosmetic procedures. Geographic location of cosmetic-procedure businesses is a critical element in understanding the public health impact of this industry; however no studies we are aware of have developed valid and feasible methods for spatial analyses of these types of businesses. The aim of this pilot validation study was to establish the feasibility of identifying businesses offering surgical and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures and to characterize the spatial distribution of these businesses. We developed and tested three methods for creating a geocoded list of cosmetic-procedure businesses in Boston (MA) and Seattle (WA), USA, comparing each method on sensitivity and staff time required per confirmed cosmetic-procedure business. Methods varied substantially. Our findings represent an important step toward enabling rigorous health-linked spatial analyses of the health implications of this little-understood industry.

Highlights

The number of cosmetic procedures performed in 2012 is almost double the number performed in 2000, with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reporting that 14.6 million cosmetic procedures were performed by ASPS members and other surgeons in 2012, compared to 7.4 million in
U.V. indoor tanning in 2012 in the United States alone [16,18] While research interest is increasing in tandem with the growth of the industry, to our knowledge, our study is the first to attempt to develop methods to identify and geographically locate the myriad types of businesses purveying cosmetic procedures in a city
We found that while locating cosmetic-procedure businesses was challenging, as there is no centralized, uniform system that catalogues these types of businesses nor is there a single or small set of North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes by which to identify them, we were able to identify numerous businesses that offered a range of cosmetic procedures and map their location, which was the primary goal of our study

Summary

Introduction

While use of potentially harmful behaviors to control appearance, weight, and shape is more common in females than males, largely due to gender socialization processes that strongly align female worth with physical appearance [7,8], adolescents and adults of both genders, of all race/ethnicity and socioeconomic groups, and in developed and developing economies have been found to engage in these behaviors [9,10,11,12,13,14] It is in this societal and historical context that industries that market services exclusively for cosmetic body modification—including surgical and minimally invasive procedures and ultraviolet (U.V.) indoor tanning—have recently experienced enormous increases in their customer base, volume of procedures conducted, and revenue. The number of cosmetic procedures performed in 2012 is almost double the number performed in 2000, with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reporting that 14.6 million cosmetic procedures were performed by ASPS members and other surgeons in 2012, compared to 7.4 million in

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion