Are Cosmetic Procedures Comparable to Antidepressive Medication for Quality-of-Life Improvements? A Systematic Review and Controlled Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Cosmetic procedures, especially cosmetic minimally invasive treatments, are rising in popularity, despite societal perception that these procedures may not improve patient health. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review and controlled meta-analysis to compare the effects of cosmetic procedures and antidepressant treatment on health-related quality-of-life improvement. The PubMed database was queried in two independent searches to identify peer-reviewed cosmetic and antidepressant articles published between 1996 and 2017 that prospectively assessed the impact of the treatment on quality of life. All results were screened using defined exclusion and inclusion criteria and data were extracted using a standardized protocol. The meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. Five of 2,788 cosmetic studies and eight of 2,312 antidepressant studies met all inclusion criteria and utilized the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) measure. Except for the physical functioning scale, when compared with the cosmetic studies, antidepressant studies had significantly lower median baseline and post-treatment follow-up scale scores with larger median score improvement (p < 0.05). Positive effect sizes following treatment were observed for all eight SF-36 scales (range: 0.32–1.16; p < 0.05). This meta-analysis provides evidence that cosmetic procedures objectively improve a patient's health-related quality of life. While antidepressant studies exhibited greater SF-36 score improvement except for the physical functioning scale, both treatment groups demonstrated the greatest improvement in mental health and role emotional scales. As previously suggested, a disconnect exists between score improvement and clinical improvement due to baseline severity, ceiling effect, and regression to the mean effects.

Prevalence and associated factors of minimally invasive facial cosmetic surgery in Chinese college students

“…From the consumers’ perspective, there are numerous benefits of MIFCS. To be specific, previous studies found that cosmetic procedures improved participants’ quality of life [ 6 , 18 – 22 ] and body image [ 19 – 22 ]. For self-esteem however, results have been varying.…”

Quality of life in Female Users of Antiageing Cosmetic Products/Aesthetic Treatments

“…Aesthetical treatments did not correlate with QoL, contrary to what was expected. In fact, although there is substantial evidence showing that invasive aesthetical treatments improve QoL [51], few data are available regarding the effects of non‐invasive treatments, such as the ones evaluated in this study, in women's QoL. Therefore, further research on this topic is needed.…”

Glabellar Botulinum Toxin Injection Improves Depression Scores: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…38 A systematic review and meta-analysis by Rudolph et al comparing cosmetic procedures to antidepressive treatment for quality-of-life improvement found that both were associated with a significant positive effect. 39 However, a study by Lewis and Bowler showed that patients who underwent glabellar onabotulinumtoxinA injections did not rate themselves as more attractive, despite displaying statistically significant improvements in mood with lower anxiety and depression scores. 40 Furthermore, two of the studies included here demonstrated continued improvements in depression scores even after the cosmetic effects of onabotulinumtoxinA had abated, providing evidence against the theory that onabotulinumtoxinA’s antidepressant effects can be attributed to its aesthetic benefits alone.…”