Rate and Predictors of Satisfaction after Noninvasive Facial Cosmetic Procedures

Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction is an important outcome of aesthetic treatment and may be influenced by treatment expectations, procedural complications, provider characteristics, follow-up care, and psychosocial factors. Aesthetic practice encompasses procedures with substantially different levels of invasiveness and risk, making accurate characterization of the treatment population important when interpreting satisfaction outcomes. Objective: To determine satisfaction after facial cosmetic procedures and examine demographic, procedural, and post-treatment factors associated with satisfaction among adults in Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study included 102 adults aged 20–40 years attending dermatology and aesthetic clinics in Punjab. Participants were recruited purposively. Demographic characteristics, provider specialty, procedure history, post-treatment complications, emergency attendance, follow-up contact, satisfaction, duration of satisfaction, and willingness to repeat treatment were recorded. Selected binary associations were evaluated using Fisher exact testing and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Fifty-seven participants (55.9%) were very satisfied and five (4.9%) were satisfied, whereas 34 (33.3%) were dissatisfied. Sixty-three participants (61.8%) reported no complications, while 39 (38.2%) reported asymmetry, scars, infection, or wound infection. Combined satisfied/very-satisfied status occurred in 55/63 participants without complications compared with 7/39 participants with complications, corresponding to an OR of 31.43 (95% CI 10.42–94.80; Fisher p<0.001). Emergency-department attendance occurred in 32/39 participants with complications compared with 3/63 without complications. Participants who did not know the specialty of their treatment provider also reported substantially more complications than those identifying their provider as a dermatologist or plastic/reconstructive surgeon. Conclusion: Satisfaction was strongly associated with the absence of post-procedure complications. However, the cross-sectional study does not establish independent predictors because no adjusted multivariable predictive model was performed. The procedural dataset also included interventions of substantially different invasiveness, including liposuction, fat injection, and thread procedures. Future studies should use standardized patient-reported outcome measures, clearer procedural classification, and multivariable analysis.