Download the entire report here.
The data analysis is in from our “Going Flat After Mastectomy Survey 2018.” Many thanks to those who participated in this important work!
Addressing the Data Deficit on Flat Closure
There is little to no data in the existing body of scientific literature that specifically addresses the quality of life of patients going flat and how their satisfaction with their cosmetic result affects this. Patients going flat need and deserve the same consideration as do patients who reconstruct, and we need evidence-based surgical management to achieve this parity.
The purpose of NPoaS’ 2018 Survey was to gather preliminary data on patient satisfaction with flat mastectomy closure cosmesis, to present to researchers to encourage their interest and eventually lead to a larger scale scientific study using validated tools.
Summary of Findings
Satisfaction scale (1 = completely dissatisfied with cosmetic result, 10 = result was perfect)
● No change in satisfaction over time was observed for patients who did not have revision surgery. A majority of respondents (3/4) were satisfied (rating = 6-10) with their initial result.
● We observed a low incidence (less than 25%) of revision surgery for dissatisfied patients (rating = 1-4).
● Revision surgery drastically improved satisfaction, from a mean of 2 before, to a mean of 9 after.
● We observed an incidence of intentional flat denial of 5% (n=8) of all respondents, and among the dissatisfied respondents (satisfaction <5) the incidence was close to one in five (19%).
● We observed no relationship between facility type (community hospital, regional hospital, academic center) and satisfaction.
● Geographic region may have some relationship to satisfaction.
For more details on these findings, download the full report here.
Stay Tuned for Our Follow-Up Questionnaire
Not Putting on a Shirt has drafted a follow-up questionnaire which will tell us more about factors contributing to patient satisfaction with flat closure cosmesis in this population. This questionnaire will gather more detailed data on respondent demographics, body habitus, surgical circumstances, cosmetic result specifics, and surgical experience generally. Stay tuned!
I think it is much harder to get a good result going flat than it is with the reconstruction sadly. If I want anything done to my chest after my mastectomy I will have to pay for it myself.