Social Media Increases Plastic, Reconstructive Surgery Patient Empowerment

MONDAY, April 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- For patients undergoing plastic and reconstructive surgery (PRS), social media seems to have a positive impact on patient empowerment, according to a study published in the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

JacqueLyn R. Kinney, M.D., from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to examine how social media sites influence levels of PRS patient empowerment using the modified Cyber Info-Decisional Empowerment Scale (CIDES) survey, which was distributed to U.S. adults. Data were included from 473 survey responses.

Participants were classified based on their surgical history: cosmetic, reconstructive, cosmetic and reconstructive, or non-PRS (39.5, 22.6, 7.6, and 30.2 percent, respectively). The researchers found that depending on the online resources used, increased empowerment was seen. Significantly greater empowerment was seen in six of seven CIDES categories in association with social media use. Facebook was associated with higher empowerment of the social media platforms in three of seven CIDES categories.

"PRS patients who use social media have higher levels of empowerment, which reflect better patient decision-making and autonomy when consulting with their plastic surgeon," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text