Body Dysmorphic Disorder Often Missed by Plastic Surgeons

As many as one in 10 patients seeking facial plastic surgery may have body dysmorphia
cosmetic surgery
cosmetic surgery

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one in 10 patients seeking facial plastic surgery suffers from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), but doctors often don't spot the problem, according to research published online recently in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.

Lisa Earnest Ishii, M.D., an associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery in the division of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and her team screened 597 patients who sought facial plastic surgery consultations at three medical sites over 11 months. Patients were given a specialized questionnaire that determined if they had BDD.

Despite how commonly the psychiatric condition was identified by the questionnaire -- almost 10 percent of patients screened positive -- only 4 percent of patients had been suspected of having the problem by plastic surgeons.

"BDD is a common condition within facial plastic surgery practices, but surgeons have a low accuracy in identifying these patients when compared with validated screening instruments," the authors write. "Routine use of validated BDD screening tools may improve patient care."

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