Beauty Choices: Uncovering the Profile of Who Opts for Aesthetic Procedures.

[BACKGROUND] The demand for aesthetic procedures has increased, driven by advances in aesthetic therapies. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence individuals to undergo aesthetic procedures is important. This study aimed to assess the profile of patients that received or did not receive aesthetic procedures.

[METHODS] This cross-sectional study enrolled 834 female participants aged between 18 and 65 years which were divided in two groups: yes to aesthetic procedures (YAP) and no to aesthetic procedures (NAP). Participants were instructed to fill out a form that included sociodemographic questions, a question regarding performing or not aesthetic procedures and the Portuguese validated versions of five FACE-Q scales. Data were collected electronically from October 2023 to February 2025. For group comparison for continuous variables, the Yuen test was used and Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Multivariate logistic regression was also performed to assess the influence of variables in performing aesthetic procedures.

[RESULTS] The sociodemographic data showed group differences in age, education and marital status and income (p < 0.001). Botulinum toxin type A was the most common minimally invasive procedures reported by the participants. Also, volunteers of the YAP group showed greater self-perception and concern about ageing (FACE-Q1 ageing appraisal) (p=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that marital and education status, income and FACE-Q1 influence the decision of performing aesthetic procedures.

[CONCLUSION] Women of higher educational level, divorce, with higher income and that present higher concerns about ageing are linked to a greater likelihood of undergoing facial aesthetic procedures.

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