PREOPERATIVE STALKING ABOUT RHINOPLASTY AND ITS EFFECT ON PATIENT SATISFACTION
1Hacettepe üniversitesi tıp fakültesi kbb anabilim dalı, kulak burun boğaz anabilim dalı, Ankara, Turkey2Akdeniz Üniversitesi, İstatistik danışma birimi, Antalya, Turkey
3Venividi Göz Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz, Ankara, Turkey Purpose: In aesthetic surgery, the patient satisfaction is the ultimate goal of any surgical procedure, including rhinoplasty. Our aim was to assess the influence of the internet for patients considering rhinoplasty and to determine its effect on patient satisfaction.
Material and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 195 patients during their postoperative period of aesthetic rhinoplasty. A questionnaire was designed to explore the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients and the influence of the internet on their preferences regarding the surgeon and clinic. Visual analog scale (VAS) and Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation (ROE) were administered as a part of the questionnaire to measure subjective patient satisfaction degree.
Results: The questionnaire revealed most patients (n:105/195, 53,8%) use Internet as their main source of information about surgery and surgeons. Patients used internet had better VAS scores (p=0,013) and ROE scores (p=0.003) than the patients who did not use it. Out of these 105 patients who obtained information about rhinoplasty 98 (93,4%) stated that the comments about the surgeon on various websites (including review sites) had an effect on their preferences (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Internet and social media investigation (search) may be considered as a new variable which affects patient satisfaction, in addition to the already known factors such as age, sex and psychological status.
Keywords : Rhinoplasty, Patient Satisfaction, Internet