Health-Related Quality of Life of Persons after Rhinoplasty: A Longitudinal Study among Iranian Population.

[INTRODUCTION] Despite the growing number of cosmetic rhinoplasty surgeries in Iran in recent years, there is little information about the effects of this procedure on the subjects' Quality of Life (QoL). This study examined the QoL after rhinoplasty in subjects without nasal obstruction, who wanted the surgery for aesthetic reasons, three and six months postoperatively.

[AIM] The aim of this study was to assess the changes of QoL in clients who take rhinoplasty.

[MATERIALS AND METHODS] This was a prospective study conducted in Tehran, Iran. Using convenience sampling, 150 subjects who had undergone cosmetic rhinoplasty from June 2013 to June 2014 were invited to participate in the study. Patients' QoL was measured one week before and three and six months after rhinoplasty, using the Iranian version of the 36-item Short Form (SF-36) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, one-way ANOVA, paired t-test, and independent sample t-test were used for data analysis.

[RESULTS] Most of the participants were women (64%), and the mean age was 26.8±5.4 years (range: 18-41 years). The mean QoL scores before and three and six months after rhinoplasty were 67.26±26.01, 68.00±15.7 and 83.65±9.6, respectively. None of the measured demographic characteristics showed any correlation or relationship with the participants' QoL before and after the procedure (p>0.05).

[CONCLUSION] QoL can be considered as a quality indicator of health care systems. This study shows that the persons' QoL improved six months after cosmetic rhinoplasty.