Establishing Normative Data on Satisfaction with Nasal Appearance: a Dutch Population-Based Study Using Aesthetic Rhinoplasty Outcome Instruments

Kasapov M, Afonso PM, Datema FR, van Zijl FVWJ.

What this paper says

A representative sample of 1,134 Dutch adults who had not had rhinoplasty scored high satisfaction with their noses on four standard questionnaires, with satisfaction rising with age and lower among people with a non-Western background.

Overview

Patient-reported outcome measures are used to judge rhinoplasty results, but without knowing how the general population scores, a "good" result is hard to define. The Rotterdam authors surveyed an online panel weighted to represent the Dutch population using the Utrecht Questionnaire, SCHNOS cosmetic subscale, FACE-Q rhinoplasty module and a numeric rating scale, and tested demographic associations by ordinal regression.

Sections of note

Weighted n = 1,134.
Mean scores: UQ 6.28, SCHNOS-C 11.38, FACE-Q nose 75.2, FACE-Q nostrils 80.09, NRS 7.67.
Satisfaction increased with age on all instruments, more rapidly in men.
Non-Western background: lower satisfaction on FACE-Q nose (OR 1.819, p = 0.004), nostrils (OR 1.586, p = 0.031) and SCHNOS-C (OR 0.417, p < 0.001).
Gender, education, income and residence had no significant effect.

What it means for a patient

Most people are fairly happy with their noses; these numbers give a benchmark for what "normal" satisfaction looks like after surgery.
Younger people are less satisfied with their noses than older people, independent of surgery.
Cultural background affects how people rate their nose, which matters when interpreting outcome scores.

Why this paper matters

It supplies the first population norms for the main aesthetic rhinoplasty questionnaires. Limits: one country, online panel, self-selection possible.

Terms

Patient-reported outcome measure (PROM): a validated questionnaire completed by the patient.
Normative data: scores from the general population used as a reference.
Utrecht Questionnaire (UQ): a Dutch aesthetic rhinoplasty outcome tool.
Ordinal regression: a statistical method for ranked outcome scores.
Odds ratio (OR): the relative odds of a lower or higher score.

Summary written by rhinoplasty.cc from the abstract, 2026-09-08; not medical advice. The authors' own abstract follows.

From the abstract

“Evaluation of aesthetic rhinoplasty increasingly relies on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). However, the absence of population-based normative data limits accurate interpretation of these outcomes. Objectives: This study aimed to establish population-based normative scores for aesthetic rhinoplasty PROMs in…”

Excerpt; the full abstract is on PubMed.