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The effect of cosmetic surgery on self-esteem and body image: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trial studies

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European Journal of Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Making changes to one’s appearance as a result of psychological trauma can have an impact on one’s daily life, social activities, and, ultimately, one’s quality of life. Several existing studies have assessed people’s psychology for making a surgery request, demonstrating varying levels of satisfaction with cosmetic surgery, but the results of these studies are contradictory. One of the aims of this meta-analysis is to highlight some of the assumptions made in these studies and clarify the inconsistencies. Moreover, this study aims to determine the effect of cosmetic surgery on self-esteem and body image.

Methods

This study included articles published in international databases of Cochrane, Embase, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science (WoS) from 2001 to 2019. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using Cochran’s (Q)c and I2 tests. Due to the found heterogeneity, the random-effects model was used to estimate the standard mean difference of cosmetic surgery tests to measure self-esteem and body image in the intervention group before and after the test.

Results

This systematic meta-analysis and review included 23 articles (13 on self-esteem and 10 on body image). The initial studies included in the meta-analysis had samples of 1232 in the self-esteem intervention group and 1083 in the body image intervention group. In the study of the mean difference between self-esteem and body image before and after cosmetic surgery, the difference between self-esteem scores before and after surgery was 1.1 ± 0.24, which showed an increase in the average score after surgery, and the difference between body image scores was 1.3 ± 0.36. The increase in the mean score indicates postoperative compared to preoperative (P˂0.01).

Conclusions

This study’s findings indicate that cosmetic surgery improves self-esteem and body image, which may be of interest to health policymakers and professionals.

Level of evidence: Not ratable.

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Data availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

CONSORT:

Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials

PRISMA:

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the faculty members of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences

Funding

This study is the result of research project No. 990410 approved by Student Research Committee of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mohsen Kazeminia

  2. Department of Biostatistics, School of Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Nader Salari

  3. Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

    Mohammadbagher Heydari

  4. Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Gerash University of Medical Sciences, Gerash, Iran

    Hakimeh Akbari & Masoud Mohammadi

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  1. Mohsen Kazeminia
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  2. Nader Salari
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  4. Hakimeh Akbari
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Contributions

MM and MK contributed to the design; MM contributed to statistical analysis and participated in most of the study steps. MM and NS prepared the manuscript. MK, MM, MBH, and HA assisted in designing the study, and helped in the interpretation of the study. All authors have read and approved the content of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masoud Mohammadi.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval and consent to participate

Ethics approval was received from the ethics committee of deputy of research and technology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (IR.KUMS.REC.1399.193). In this study, no separation was performed to evaluate gender affirming surgery in nonbinary patients.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict interests

Mohsen Kazeminia, Nader Salari, Mohammadbagher Heydari, Hakimeh Akbari, and Masoud Mohammadi declare no competing interests.

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Kazeminia, M., Salari, N., Heydari, M. et al. The effect of cosmetic surgery on self-esteem and body image: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trial studies. Eur J Plast Surg 46, 25–33 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-022-01987-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-022-01987-6

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