With great attention and enthusiasm, we read the article “Quality of life of Brazilian
plastic surgeons” by Alves et al.[1],
published in issue 38(2) of the Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia
Plástica. We congratulate the authors for the initiative and description of the
topic of quality of life for plastic surgeons in Brazil.
The first study on the quality of life of plastic surgeons in Brazil was published
in
2018[2] in the journal Plastic
Surgery Global Open, cited in the article’s references. Initially, observational studies
that use questionnaires present the challenge of adhering to participants when filling
them out, even when electronic means are used. In the study carried out in 2018, 115
surgeons from a population of 163 responded to the questionnaire (70% adherence),
while
in this recent study of a population of 7079 surgeons in Brazil, 168 responses were
obtained (2.4% adherence), not making it possible to reach the initial number
established by the statistical method of 365 responses. Such results demonstrate the
difficulty of achieving considerable numbers of responses to questionnaires to obtain
an
adequate representation of an original population.
Both surveys used a sociodemographic questionnaire and the WHOQOL-bref[3] instrument. Some similarities are
evident in relation to demographics[4] of
studies in similar populations, such as majority male, married, with up to two children,
majority of members who responded are specialists, with a working day of 10 to 60
hours,
majority work in surgery of an aesthetic nature and around a third of these earn more
than 40 thousand reais per month.
In the study by Alves et al.[1], there are
innovations reported with the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the use of
advertising in digital media. The pandemic, without a doubt, caused mental and emotional
changes in the entire Brazilian medical population, and there was an increase in the
search for advertising and digital marketing. We believe that these numbers must be
even
higher, given that in the population presented in this study, a large proportion had
been practicing medicine for over 20 years, and we know that digital marketing is
extremely active and adaptable in younger populations.
When comparing the groups studied in relation to the domains of the WHOQOL-bref
instrument, in the 2018 study, the main domains were the physical and psychological,
whereas in the recent study, published with the influence of the pandemic, the most
affected domains were the psychological and social relations, here highlighting the
impact of the reduction in work and interactions caused by the lockdown period. These
changes may be directly related to the influence of the pandemic on the quality of
life
of Brazilian plastic surgeons.
Studies like this should be encouraged, as they allow to show the reality of the plastic
surgeon in our country and bring a reflection on the need to develop topics on quality
of life and progression of these professionals in regional events and in events in
our
society in order to expand the vision of our colleagues so that they can make assertive
decisions about improving the quality of life.
Bibliographical Record
FABIANO CALIXTO FORTES DE ARRUDA, PAULO RENATO SIMMONS DE PAULA. Qualidade de vida
dos cirurgiões plásticos brasileiros. Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Plástica (RBCP)
– Brazilian Journal of Plastic Surgery 2024; 39: 217712352023rbcp0845pt.
DOI: 10.5935/2177-1235.2023RBCP0845-PT
