Decision Factors and the Recognition of Medical Specialty in Patients Receiving Cosmetic Laser and Intense Pulsed Light Treatment

BACKGROUNDIn addition to dermatologists and plastic surgeons, physicians of other medical specialties also provide cosmetic laser and light treatment. OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to determine the major decision factors in patients who received cosmetic laser or intense pulsed light treatment and how t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dermatologic surgery 2007-12, Vol.33 (12), p.1488-1493
Main Authors: TZUNG, TIEN-YI, TZUNG, CHING-PING, YANG, CHIA-YI, YANG, DONG-JENN, KAO, MING-REA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical Competence
Decision Making
Dermatology
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Humans
Laser Therapy - psychology
Lasers
Male
Medical sciences
Medicine
Skin plastic surgery
Specialization
Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases
Surgery, Plastic
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Summary:BACKGROUNDIn addition to dermatologists and plastic surgeons, physicians of other medical specialties also provide cosmetic laser and light treatment. OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to determine the major decision factors in patients who received cosmetic laser or intense pulsed light treatment and how they perceived different medical specialties in providing such services. METHODSThe method of factor analysis was adopted to extract the common characteristics (major decision factors) from a list of 17 items patients would regard as important when they planned to receive laser and intense pulsed light treatment. In addition, the level of recognition of different medical specialties in cosmetic patients was indirectly forecast using an analytic hierarchy process. RESULTSMedical competence (0.3296) was the most important decision factor, followed by recommendation (0.2198), friendliness (0.1350), cost (0.1307), complete service (0.0984), and the physical attributes of the physician (0.0865). Dermatologists and plastic surgeons outscored cosmetic practitioners in five factors except for cost, in which the plastic surgeons were weakest. CONCLUSIONMedical competence and recommendation are the core issues for cosmetic patients. Dermatologists and plastic surgeons gain better overall recognition than physicians of other medical specialties in cosmetic patients.
ISSN:1076-0512
1524-4725
DOI:10.1097/00042728-200712000-00012