Prospective Evaluation of Psychological Healing in Adults Who Underwent Otoplasty for Prominent Ear

Otoplasty is performed to heal the psychological discomfort caused by the appearance of prominent ear by bringing the ear to its anatomical position. However, there have been few studies with limited numbers of patients that have prospectively evaluated psychosocial recovery following otoplasty in adults. The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the versatile psychological recovery that can be achieved in adults following otoplasty.

In this prospective cohort study, a single-group, pretest-posttest model was used as the experimental research model. Patient satisfaction status was measured, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory I-II (STAI I-II), Rosenberg Self-Esteem (RSES), and Body Cathexis Scale (BCS) tests were performed on patients before and after surgery.

A total of 66 patients with a mean age of 20.7 ± 3.1 years, 66.7% of whom were women, were included in the study. While 97% of the patients were satisfied with the results of the operation, 3% were undecided. The mean values of the BDI, STAI-I, STAI-II, and BCS before and after surgery were 11.4 ± 5.7, 40.9 ± 6.7, 43 ± 9.4, 74.2 ± 20.5, and 8.5 ± 5.5, 38.6 ± 7.4, 39.5 ± 9.2, 63.5 ± 17.6, respectively. While the proportion of patients with a high RSES score before surgery was 42.42%, the proportion after surgery was 96.96%. The differences in the mean scores of all tests before and after surgery were also statistically significant (p < 0.05).

Our study demonstrated that otoplasty made positive contributions to body perception, self-esteem, anxiety, and depression in adults. Otoplasty is as beneficial in adults as it is in pediatric patients.

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