How happy are patients with facelift results? Surprisingly, there has been no verifiable documentation of patient satisfaction in facelift literature — until now. With the objective of filling this void, a team of researchers in New York carried out the first study to examine facelift outcomes and patient satisfaction using a validated questionnaire.
The study included 105 facelift patients of senior author Charles H. Thorne, M.D., chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at Lenox Hill and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospitals in New York. Dr. Thorne performed the facelifts using a high, extended–superficial musculoaponeurotic system with submental platysma approximation technique. Patients were asked to anonymously complete a FACE-Q questionnaire by e-mail. Scores were assessed for each domain, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction with appearance or superior quality of life.
Related: The non-surgical facelift: Does it exist?
Dr. Thorne’s Results
Fifty-three patients completed the FACE-Q questionnaire. Researchers report:
- Patients were highly satisfied with their facial appearance (mean ± SD, 80.7 ± 22.3) and quality of life, including social confidence (90.4 ± 16.6), psychological well-being (92.8 ± 14.3) and early life impact (92.2 ± 16.4).
- Patients were highly satisfied with their decision to undergo a facelift (90.5 ± 15.9).
- On average, patients felt they appeared 6.9 years younger than their actual age.
- Patients were most satisfied with the appearance of their nasolabial folds (86.2 ± 18.5), cheeks (86.1 ± 25.4) and lower face/jawline (86.0 ± 20.6), as compared with their necks (78.1 ± 25.6) and area under the chin (67.9 ± 32.3).
“The study shows that patients are extremely happy with their decisions to have a facelift and with the results,” Dr. Thorne tells Cosmetic Surgery Times. “[The study] is not an investigation of a particular facelifting technique but it demonstrates that, in this era of injectables, non-surgical options and less-invasive procedures, facelifting remains a gold standard.”
The study appears in the August issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
