Satisfaction with and psychological impact of immediate and deferred breast reconstruction.
BACKGROUND
The present work assesses the effect of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR), deferred breast reconstruction (DBR), and no breast reconstruction on the psychological impact.


METHODS
Standard questionnaires were used to determine the psychological impact suffered by patients who underwent IBR, DBR and no reconstruction, their degree of satisfaction with the results achieved, and their postprocedure opinions regarding reconstruction options.


RESULTS
A total of 526 women underwent mastectomy. The response rate to the questionnaires was 71.67%. A significantly greater proportion of the women who underwent no reconstruction suffered psychological problems than those who underwent reconstruction of some type (P = 0.01). Some 94.77% of the women who underwent IBR maintained a postprocedure preference for this option; in contrast, some 87.27% of the DBR and 56.14% of the no-reconstruction patients declared a postprocedure preference for IBR. In all, 63.49% of the women who underwent reconstruction were moderately very satisfied with the aesthetic results achieved, while only 22.80% of the no-reconstruction patients declared such satisfaction (P = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The women who underwent no breast reconstruction suffered more emotional problems than those who underwent a reconstruction procedure. In general, all groups reported a postprocedure preference for IBR in their questionnaire answers. The aesthetic results achieved by IBR seem to be those best accepted.
Fernández-Delgado
J
J
Servicio de Cirugía Plástica del Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid.
López-Pedraza
M J
MJ
Unidad de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias, Agencia Laín Entralgo, Madrid.
Blasco
J A
JA
Unidad de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias, Agencia Laín Entralgo, Madrid.
Andradas-Aragones
E
E
Área de Investigación y Estudios sanitarios, Agencia Laín Entralgo, Madrid.
Sánchez-Méndez
J I
JI
Servicio de Ginecología del Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain.
Sordo-Miralles
G
G
Servicio de Cirugía Plástica del Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid.
Reza
M M
MM
Unidad de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias, Agencia Laín Entralgo, Madrid. Electronic address: mercedes.reza@salud.madrid.org.
D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019529:Sexuality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors