Aesthetic Surgery Reality Television Shows: Do they Influence Public Perception of the Scope of Plastic Surgery?

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this survey was to assess the influence of aesthetic surgery "reality television" shows viewing on the public's perception of the scope of plastic surgery practice. METHODS: Perceptions of the scope of plastic surgery (33 scenarios), aesthetic surgery "reality television" viewing patterns ("high," "moderate," or "low" familiarity, similarity, confidence, and influence viewers), sociodemographic data, and previous plastic surgery interaction were collected from 2148 members of the public. Response patterns were created and bivariate and multivariate analyses were applied to assess the possible determinants of overall public choice of plastic surgeons as experts in the plastic surgery-related scenarios. RESULTS: Both "plastic surgeons" and "plastic surgeons alone" were the main response patterns (all p < 0.05) in ten (83.3%) aesthetic interventions-related scenarios. "Plastic surgeons" and "plastic surgeons alone" were significantly (all p < 0.05) more identified as experts in ten (47.6%) and eight (38.1%) general/reconstructive-related scenarios, respectively. There were positive (health care professionals and prior plastic surgery interaction) and negative ("high-familiarity" viewers, "high-influence" viewers, "high-confidence" viewers, and "high-similarity" viewers) significant (all p < 0.05) determinants of response plastic surgeons in the bivariate and multivariate analyses. CONCLUSION: Aesthetic surgery "reality television" viewing negatively influences the public perception of the broad scope of plastic surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.