Beyond Surgery: Psychological Well-Being's Role in Breast Reconstruction Outcomes

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, and following its treatment, many women turn to plastic surgery for reconstruction. A diagnosis of cancer is a heavy burden on patients. Yet, the effect of psychological/psychiatric comorbidities on patient satisfaction following their reconstruction remains unexplored. Thus, this paper aims to investigate how pre-existing psychological and psychiatric conditions impact patient-reported outcomes postreconstruction, compared to women without such conditions.

A systematic review of PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane was completed. A qualitative synthesis of all included studies was then performed, and a subgroup analysis was then performed using a random effect model.

A total of 24 papers were included, encompassing a total population of 220,565 patients undergoing breast reconstruction between the ages of 18 and 84. The follow-up time ranged between 1.5 mo and 61 mo. In our study of breast reconstruction outcomes, the cohort with psychological/psychiatric comorbidities exhibited significant decreases in postoperative BREAST-Q scores compared to the control group: a 24-point [95% confidence interval (CI; -40, -8)] difference in satisfaction, a 20-point [95% CI (-57, -17)] difference in psychosocial well-being, an 18-point [95% CI (-28, 9)] difference in physical well-being, and a 33-point [95% CI (-51, -15)] difference in sexual well-being.

Ultimately, our analysis suggests that presurgical psychology status is a critical determinant of postsurgical patient-reported outcomes. These results encourage the development and inclusion of well-being screening and optimization prior to surgery as a mean to improve surgical outcomes.