Psychosocial outcome and patient satisfaction following breast reduction surgery

There is an increasing awareness that psychosocial outcome and health statu s are important outcomes following breast reduction surgery. In this study, patients awaiting breast reduction surgery completed detailed and comprehe nsive psychosocial assessments before and after surgery. Of 33 patients who completed the preoperative assessment, 20 patients were operated on and 19 were reassessed 4 months post-surgery. Patients expressed high levels of s atisfaction with specific and overall results of surgery. Scores for anxiet y, depression, body image and body satisfaction improved significantly usin g specific questionnaires. Patients also reported significant improvements on five out of eight subscales on the Short Form 36 health status questionn aire. This study provides further evidence for overall improvement in healt h status and psychological functioning in patients undergoing breast reduct ion surgery and supports the provision of this service by the NHS.