Female patients undergoing aesthetical procedures present increased symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Anna Płatkowska-Szczerek, Bartłomiej Tarkowski, Sylwia Jarosz, Anna Zalewska-Janowska
Nowadays, due to social changes and society and modern media influence, there is a significant focus put on the external appearance of the person. One of the ways of pursuing those standards is undergoing aesthetical medicine procedures. While discussing it, psychological well-being cannot be omitted by medical specialists.  
The aim of the study was to evaluate the level of anxiety and depression among female patients of aesthetical medicine clinic. 
The study group consisted of 40 women aged 23-68 (mean=43.95, SD=12.39) undergoing various medical procedures in the clinic. The levels of depression and anxiety were measured using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) divided into Anxiety (A) and Depression (D) subscales. Patients were also asked to complete the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 10) and a short general questionnaire regarding personal information and additional medical data. Data was analysed with statistical significance p<0.05.

Both levels of anxiety and depression amongst patients were dramatically high comparing to general population. Mean results in scale A reached 15.35 (SD=4.15) with only 5% of patients showing no significant symptoms of anxiety. Mean results in scale D reached 16.75 (SD=3.76) and all of the patients showed increased levels of depression. Perceived correlation between levels of anxiety (ρs=0.001, p=0.995) and depression (ρs=0.047, p=0.773) with number of procedures underwent was not observed. PSS10 results were normal, with a slight tendency towards low level of perceived stress.
The increased levels of depression and anxiety amongst patients regardless the number of undergone procedures suggests that problems the patients are facing cannot be resolved simply by improving external appearance. Aesthetical doctors shall be aware patients may need more wholesome care in order to improve also their psychological well-being.

Female patients undergoing aesthetic procedures present increased symptoms of anxiety and depression