ABSTRACT

Purpose:

Most plastic surgery clinics in Turkey hospitalize aesthetic patients with reconstructive patients in the same department, and even in the same room. We think that there are some sociocultural differences between aesthetic and reconstructive patients in this country. Sociocultural differences between these patients along with their different expectations could necessitate a different behavior pattern among the hospital staff towards the patients when compared with other medical branches. The aim of this study was to determine, if any, the differences between aesthetic and reconstructive patients hospitalized in our department and to improve our service quality according to these fi ndings.

Materials and Methods:

We used a questionnaire to ask 20 questions to 100 aesthetic and 100 reconstructive patients hospitalized in our department in 2003. We determined patients’ sociocultural profi le, their expectations and satisfaction degree, factors affecting their decision to undergo the operation and in selecting their surgeon, and the sources from which they had collected information about their operation.

Results:

Our results pointed out some sociocultural differences between aesthetic patients and reconstructive patients. However, there was no signifi cant difference between their service expectations and satisfaction degree. A signifi cant number of both groups’ patients did not search for any source of information on their operation before surgery. The most important factors affecting surgeon preference were the affability of the surgeon and recommendation by another doctor or a previous patient.

Conclusion:

Determining the patient profile could help in the training of hospital staff and improve our department’s quality.