Psychosocial outcome and patient satisfaction following breast reduction surgery

There is an increasing awareness that psychosocial outcome and health status are important outcomes following breast reduction surgery. In this study, patients awaiting breast reduction surgery completed detailed and comprehensive psychosocial assessments before and after surgery. Of 33 patients who completed the preoperative assessment, 20 patients were operated on and 19 were reassessed 4 months post-surgery. Patients expressed high levels of satisfaction with specific and overall results of surgery. Scores for anxiety, depression, body image and body satisfaction improved significantly using specific questionnaires. Patients also reported significant improvements on five out of eight subscales on the Short Form 36 health status questionnaire. This study provides further evidence for overall improvement in health status and psychological functioning in patients undergoing breast reduction surgery and supports the provision of this service by the NHS.