Comparison of patterns of psychopathology in aesthetic rhinoplasty patients versus functional rhinoplasty patients.

[OBJECTIVES] To determine whether candidates for aesthetic rhinoplasty show more severe symptoms of psychopathology in comparison with functional rhinoplasty patients.

[STUDY DESIGN] Case-control study. Aesthetic rhinoplasty candidates were taken as cases and functional rhinoplasty patients comprised the control group.

[SETTING] A surgical center for rhinoplasty.

[SUBJECTS AND METHODS] Forty-two patients seeking either aesthetic rhinoplasty (n = 21) or functional rhinoplasty (n = 21) were included in this study in winter 2012 using a convenience sampling method. All patients were asked to complete the Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) preoperatively. An independent t test was performed for each subscale of the instrument. Cohen's d was calculated as a measure of effect size. Pearson's correlation was also performed between the subscales.

[RESULTS] Independent t test verified that aesthetic rhinoplasty patients scored significantly higher in 8 subscales of the SCL-90-R in comparison with functional rhinoplasty patients as control group. Aesthetic rhinoplasty seekers showed more severe symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder (P < .01), depression (P < .01), interpersonal problems (P < .01), psychoticism (P < .05), paranoia (P < .05), hostility (P < .05), phobia (P < .01), and general psychopathology (P < .01). All subscales were correlated strongly in the current sample.

[CONCLUSION] This study demonstrated that a sample of patients seeking aesthetic rhinoplasty had higher symptoms in various components of psychopathology compared with a control group. Therefore, preoperative psychological screening of aesthetic rhinoplasty candidates may be useful.