Misconceptions in Plastic Surgery: Crowdsourcing Public Perceptions of Plastic Surgery Urban Myths

Understanding public misconceptions about plastic surgery can inform plastic surgeons of the knowledge gaps among their patients and non-plastic surgeon colleagues about the field. This deepened understanding may aid in optimizing patient satisfaction and health outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which laypeople agree with common plastic surgery urban myths.

A Likert scale-based survey of 10 popular plastic surgery myths was distributed via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Descriptive analyses and multinomial logistical regressions were performed to assess associations between respondent demographics and the likelihood of agreeing with each myth.

A total of 2000 completed surveys were included in this study. Of the respondents, 41% believed that hand dominance is associated with a larger ipsilateral breast, 40% believed that underwire bras cause breast cancer, and 59% believed that typing causes carpal tunnel syndrome. Respondents who were male or younger than 35 years were more likely to believe in inaccurate myths. Health care workers had higher odds of agreeing with the claims that plastic surgery uses plastic (odd ratio [OR] = 2.49 [95% CI, 1.82-3.41]; P <.001) and that plastic surgery is almost always cosmetic (OR = 1.85 [95% CI, 1.32-2.61]; P < .001). Participants who underwent a plastic surgery procedure or consultation were generally more likely to agree with the listed myths.

The general public and non-plastic-surgeon health care workers appear to have misconceptions about the scope and practice of plastic surgery. Open-ended patient-physician communication and patient-centered educational resources can potentially overcome plastic surgery misconceptions, thereby optimizing patient health outcomes and satisfaction.