Comparison of Patient-Reported and Clinician-Reported Outcomes in Abdominoplasty

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and clinician-reported outcome measures (CROMs) are seldom compared, yet they can be valuable for evaluating outcomes and facilitating patient selection and informed consent. A cohort study conducted between July 2016 and February 2020 analyzed PROMs and CROMs in 95 abdominoplasty patients, all of whom underwent psychological evaluation using the Royal Free Hospital and Centre for Appearance Research (RoFCAR) screening tool.

The observations of the study revealed:

• Both patients and clinicians noted significant improvements following the abdominoplasty, with patients also experiencing psychological gains reflected in enhanced RoFCAR scores.
• However, patients reported a greater perceived improvement in outcomes compared to clinicians.
• Clinicians tended to evaluate outcomes more negatively for patients with a body mass index over 30 kg/m2 or those who had over 1000 g of fat removed. 
• Conversely, clinicians observed better outcomes in patients who lost significant weight through diet and exercise rather than bariatric surgery. 
• Additionally, patients who had concurrent surgeries received higher clinician-rated outcomes, while those with post-operative complications had lower scores. 
• Factors such as pre- and post-operative scarring, previous pregnancies, and age over 50 did not significantly influence clinician assessments. 
• In contrast, none of the examined factors altered how patients rated their outcomes. 

The study highlights that clinicians often underestimate the improvements reported by patients and emphasizes the importance of recognizing potential biases during preoperative consultations, as patients consistently reported positive changes regardless of various pre- and post-operative factors.

Source: Kitching ST, Rocco C, Harwood R, Ross G. Comparison of clinician- and patient-reported outcome measures in 95 abdominoplasty cases using BODY-Q and MCCRO-Q. JPRAS Open. 2025 Jan 10;43:438-457. doi: 10.1016/j.jpra.2025.01.004. PMID: 39980598; PMCID: PMC11840526.