BackgroundThis article aims to investigate current perceptions of beauty of the general public and physicians without a specialization in plastic surgery performing aesthetic procedures.MethodsA cross-sectional and interviewing questionnaire was administered to 290 people in Seoul, South Korea in September 2015. The questionnaire addressed three issues: general attitudes about plastic surgery (Q1), perception of and preferences regarding Korean female celebrities’ facial attractiveness (Q2), and the relative influence of each facial aesthetic subunit on overall facial attractiveness. The survey’s results were gathered by a professional research agency and classified according to a respondent’s gender, age, and job type (95%±5.75% confidence interval). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 10.1, calculating one-way analysis of variance with post hoc analysis and Tukey’s t-test.ResultsAmong the respondents, 38.3% were in favor of aesthetic plastic surgery. The most common source of plastic surgery information was the internet (50.0%). The most powerful factor influencing hospital or clinic selection was the postoperative surgical results of acquaintances (74.9%). We created a composite face of an attractive Korean female, representing the current facial configuration considered appealing to the Koreans. Beauty perceptions differed to some degree based on gender and generational differences. We found that there were certain differences in beauty perceptions between general physicians who perform aesthetic procedures and the general public.ConclusionsOur study results provide aesthetic plastic surgeons with detailed information about contemporary Korean people’s attitudes toward and perceptions of plastic surgery and the specific characteristics of female Korean faces currently considered attractive, plus trends in these perceptions, which should inform plastic surgeons within their specialized fields.

This study aimed to determine whether prehospital visits to other medical institutions before admission are associated with prolonged hospital stay, readmission, or mortality rates in acute stroke patients. Using the claims data from the Korean Health Insurance Service, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 58,418 newly diagnosed stroke patients aged ≥ 20 years from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. Extended hospital stay (≥7 days; median value) following initial admission, readmission within 180 days after discharge, and all-cause mortality within 30 days were measured as health outcomes using multiple logistic regression analysis after adjusting for age, sex, income, residential area, and medical history. Stroke patients with a prehospital visit (10,992 patients, 18.8%) had a higher risk of long hospitalization (odds ratio = 1.06; 95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.10), readmission (1.19; 1.14–1.25), and mortality (1.23; 1.13–1.33) compared with patients without a prehospital visit. Female patients and those under 65 years of age had increased unfavorable outcomes (p < 0.05). Prehospital visits were associated with unfavorable health outcomes.

As SC type cannot be precisely diagnosed using anthroscopic examination alone, SCM needs a definitive objective and scientific diagnosing method to be a scientifically verified alternative medicine and be globalized in future.