Functional, Cosmetic, and Psychological Outcomes after Rhinoplasty

Omer G, Girolamo S, Hamatofiq B, Tofiq S, Mohammed MA, Abdulkarim D, Mohammed S, Gubari M, Habibullah I, Mustafa A, Fatah M, Ahmed S, Kakamad F.

PubMed 39157708 Publisher (DOI)Free full text (PMC)

What this paper says

Surveying 234 rhinoplasty patients, satisfaction was 59 percent for breathing, 63.2 percent for appearance and 70.9 percent for psychological outcome.

Overview

Rhinoplasty is performed for both appearance and breathing, and the authors set out to measure satisfaction across all three domains they considered relevant: functional, cosmetic and psychological. This was a descriptive cross sectional study collecting data through interviews and an online form, analyzed with chi-square tests and descriptive statistics.

Sections of note

Design: descriptive cross sectional study using interviews and an online questionnaire.
234 patients enrolled: 69.2 percent women and 30.8 percent men.
Mean age 22.86 years, standard deviation 4.546.
Functional satisfaction: about 59 percent.
Cosmetic satisfaction: 63.2 percent.
Psychological satisfaction: 70.9 percent.
The primary reason for surgery was cosmetic in 45 percent of patients.
The authors describe functional satisfaction as the domain most patients were satisfied with, though it is the lowest of the three reported figures.

What it means for a patient

Satisfaction was moderate across all three domains, with roughly a third to two fifths of patients not satisfied in each.
Psychological satisfaction was the highest, which suggests patients valued how they felt more than the physical result they could measure.
Note that the conclusion states functional satisfaction was highest while the results report it as the lowest of the three, an internal inconsistency in the paper as printed.
Limits: cross sectional survey, no validated instrument named, no stated follow up interval since surgery, and no comparison group.

Why this paper matters

Most rhinoplasty outcome reporting comes from surgeon led series in specialist centres, and satisfaction figures are usually higher than these. Survey based data from a general patient population gives a different picture. Without a validated questionnaire or defined follow up interval, the figures are hard to compare against published series.

Terms

Functional outcome: the result measured by how well the nose breathes.
Cosmetic outcome: the result measured by appearance.
Cross-sectional study: a study measuring a group at one point in time.
Chi-square test: a statistical test comparing categories between groups.
Descriptive study: research that reports what was observed without testing an intervention.

Summary written by rhinoplasty.cc from the abstract, 2026-09-09; not medical advice. The authors' own abstract follows.

Abstract

Background: Rhinoplasty is conducted to address both cosmetic and functional objectives. It is not merely a cosmetic procedure, as it frequently aims to improve function by enhancing nasal breathing and removing congenital or acquired obstructions. The current study aims to determine the functional, cosmetic, and psychological outcomes of rhinoplasties.

Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The data were collected using an interview and an online Google form. A chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between qualitative variables and quantitative variables using frequency, percentage, and mean for quantitative variables. Each variable's P value is used to detect statistical significance. The significance level was set at a P value of less than 0.05.

Results: Of the 234 patients enrolled in this study, 69.2% were women, whereas 30.8% were men, with a mean age of 22.86 ± 4.546 years. In terms of satisfaction, functional satisfaction accounted for about 59% of all satisfaction, cosmetic satisfaction was 63.2%, and psychological satisfaction was 70.9%. The primary reason for surgery was cosmetic (45%).

Conclusion: The majority of enrolled participants were satisfied with their functional outcomes, whereas their satisfaction with psychological and cosmetic outcomes was moderate.

Abstract as indexed by PubMed; the article is open access (PubMed Central).