Psychosocial implications of blepharoptosis and dermatochalasis

To investigate, for the first time, the psychosocial implications of blepharoptosis and dermatochalasis. Two hundred ten individuals rated whole-face photographs of a series of patients on the basis of 11 different personal characteristics: intelligence, throat, friendliness, health, trustworthiness...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society 2001, Vol.99, p.65-71; discussion 71-2
Main Authors: Bullock, J D, Warwar, R E, Bienenfeld, D G, Marciniszyn, S L, Markert, R J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Attitude to Health
Blepharoplasty
Blepharoptosis - psychology
Blepharoptosis - surgery
Cutis Laxa - psychology
Cutis Laxa - surgery
Facial Expression
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Photography
Quality of Life
Rhytidoplasty
Spatial Behavior
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Summary:To investigate, for the first time, the psychosocial implications of blepharoptosis and dermatochalasis. Two hundred ten individuals rated whole-face photographs of a series of patients on the basis of 11 different personal characteristics: intelligence, throat, friendliness, health, trustworthiness, hard work, mental illness, financial success, attractiveness, alcoholism, and happiness. Preoperative and postoperative photographs of both male and female patients with bilateral blepharoptosis and/or dermatochalasis were used. The paired t test was used to compare preoperative and postoperative ratings on the 11 characteristics. The preoperative photographs were rated more negatively than the postoperative photographs (P < .01-P < .001) on all 11 characteristics for both male and female patients by the 210 study subjects. Members of society seem to view individuals with blepharoptosis and dermatochalasis negatively. These psychosocial attitudes may lead to unjust bias toward affected patients, and surgical correction likely provides benefits beyond improved visual function.
ISSN:0065-9533
1545-6110