Characteristics of Patients Seeking and Proceeding with Non-Surgical Facial Aesthetic Procedures

PURPOSE: Identifying predictors for patients’ readiness to receive non-surgical facial aesthetic treatments facilitates the physician’s understanding of the patient’s goals and expectations. This paper aims to identify clinical and demographic characteristics of patients who proceed with non-surgical facial aesthetic procedures in Singapore. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using data from electronic patient health records, authors examined clinical and demographic characteristics of 624 Asian and Caucasian patients who sought treatment in a 12-month period and who had minimum follow-up of 1 year. Variables examined included age, race/ethnicity, gender, prior treatment, and attitudes and motivation for seeking treatment. Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with proceeding with the treatment plan were evaluated using chi-square and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Approximately 88% of patients who sought consultation proceeded with treatment. The majority were older than 40 years of age, were female and received prior treatments. Notable is the high frequency of rejuvenation rather than correction as the clinical outcome goal. There were slightly more Caucasians than Chinese patients but the racial distribution allowed the identification of differences between the two groups. Chinese patients were younger and more likely to seek correction or more obvious changes as compared to Caucasian patients. On multivariate analyses, powerful predictors for proceeding with non-invasive facial treatments included a treatment goal of rejuvenation rather than correction, an expectation of an immediate result, and prior aesthetic treatments. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to compare race/ethnic differences in factors that influence treatment with non-invasive aesthetic procedures. This is also the first to identify demographic, clinical and motivational characteristics associated with actual treatment with non-invasive facial procedures. Further research on a systematic approach to defining a patient’s motivation for receiving treatment, as well as research identifying which patients are more likely to have positive clinical outcomes are warranted.