Public Awareness, Attitudes, and Knowledge of Materials Used in Body Filler Injections: A Cross-Sectional Study
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Published on: May 13, 2020
Alaa Hakami1, Osama Ahmed Mobarki1, Remaz Abdulaziz Alhassan1
1Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Background:
Dermal filler injections are increasingly used as minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. Despite their popularity, inadequate knowledge regarding filler materials, reversibility, contraindications, provider qualifications, and potential complications may compromise patient safety. Assessing public knowledge, attitudes, and practices is therefore important for identifying educational needs and promoting informed decisions.
Objective:
To assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding dermal filler injections and their potential adverse effects among adults in Saudi Arabia, with particular attention to safety awareness, information sources, previous experiences, and attitudes toward qualified healthcare providers.
Methods:
Our study used a cross-sectional design and included 606 adults aged over 18 years. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics, awareness and knowledge of fillers, attitudes toward safety and regulation, previous filler experiences, and sources of information. A composite knowledge score was constructed from eight factual knowledge items, and multivariable regression was used to identify factors independently associated with knowledge.
Results:
Females represented 77.9% of participants, and 96.04% had heard of cosmetic fillers. Most recognized that increasing the injected amount could increase complication risk (81.85%), while 89.93% believed fillers should only be administered by qualified healthcare professionals. Knowledge was lower regarding hyaluronic acid reversibility (51.65%) and permanent filler removal (31.85%). Previous filler use was reported by 13.7%. Among previous users, 67.47% reported not being informed about potential complications, while 69.9% reported no complications. Social media was the leading general information source (38.12%), although participants showed limited trust in social-media information. Most participants without previous filler experience (73.93%) would not consider future filler injections.
Conclusions:
Our study demonstrated high general awareness of dermal fillers but identified important gaps in specific safety knowledge and pre-procedure counseling. Greater emphasis on evidence-based education, comprehensive informed consent, qualified healthcare providers, and reliable digital health information is needed to promote safer filler practices.