Long-term assessment of psychologic outcomes of orthognathic surgery.
OBJECTIVE
This long-term study of post-orthognathic surgery patients aimed at assessing perceptions of problems with physical and psychologic functioning, self-concept, body image, and satisfaction with the surgical outcome based on subjective evaluations. In addition, the patient's perception of self-concept, body image, and function was compared with the perception of pretreatment patients and controls with no treatment need.


METHODS
One hundred seventeen patients who underwent orthognathic surgery 10 to 14 years earlier and participated in a psychologic study 10 years earlier received questionnaires that were composed of 4 instruments designed to assess these factors. A sample of 92 persons representing a population without treatment need and 39 patients requesting treatment for a malocclusion served as control groups.


RESULTS
The findings of this study support the hypothesis that improvement in appearance brought about by orthognathic surgery is associated with improvement in psychosocial adjustment. Orthognathic surgery resulted in subjective estimation of function, appearance, health, and interpersonal relationships that was higher than that among pretreatment and no-treatment control groups. The level of body image and self-esteem approximated but did not reach that of a nonpatient population.


CONCLUSIONS
In view of the current psychologic and social environment, patients should be offered the appropriate treatment to correct a disfigurement if it is subjectively perceived by them as a handicap, in part to improve the psychologic outcome.
Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
Theodora
T
Lazaridou-Terzoudi
H Asuman
HA
Kiyak
Rod
R
Moore
Athanasios E
AE
Athanasiou
Birte
B
Melsen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007568:Jaw / Q000503:physiopathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D056948:Orthognathic Surgical Procedures; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012931:Social Environment; D016896:Treatment Outcome