%0 Journal Article
%T Awareness and Attitude of Healthcare Workers to Cosmetic Surgery in Osogbo, Nigeria
%A Opeyemi Adeniyi Adedeji
%A Ganiyu Oladiran Oseni
%A Peter Babatunde Olaitan
%J Surgery Research and Practice
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/869567
%X This study aimed at understanding the level of awareness and elucidates the attitude and disposition of healthcare workers to cosmetic surgery in Osogbo, Nigeria. A questionnaire-based survey was done at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, in 2012. Questionnaires were administered to 213 workers and students in the hospital. These were then analysed using SPSS version 16.0 with frequencies, means, and so forth. Respondents were 33 doctors, 32 nurses, 79 medical students, 60 nursing students, 4 administrative staff, 1 pharmacist, and 4 ward maids. There is fair awareness about cosmetic surgery generally with 94.5% and its availability in Nigeria with 67.0%. A fewer proportion of the respondents (44.5%) were aware of the facility for cosmetic surgery in their locality. A large percentage (86.5%) favorably considers facilities outside Nigeria when making choice of facility to have cosmetic surgery done. 85.5% considered the information about cosmetic surgery reliable while 19.0% objected going for cosmetic surgery of their choice even if done free. Only 34.0% consider cosmetic surgery socially acceptable. Although the awareness of health workers about cosmetic surgery is high, their disposition to it is low. There is a need to increase the awareness in order to increase cosmetic surgery practice in Nigeria. 1. Introduction The concern of people about their appearance is gradually on the increase both in the developed and the developing world; thus there is an increase in the number of cosmetic surgeries done annually. In the United States, for instance, 11.7 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2007, with the vast majority being minimally invasive procedures [1]. Even though the rate of rise is not as high as that in the developing countries, the fact still remains that people are getting more concerned with their appearance especially with the increasing standard of living. In Asia, cosmetic surgery has become an accepted practice, and countries such as China and India have become Asia¡¯s biggest cosmetic surgery market [2]. It may not appear that plastic and reconstructive surgeries in children are of high priority in a country like Uganda. However, plastic surgery cases may constitute up to 20% of the surgical workload of a rural hospital in sub-Saharan Africa [3], and lack of surgical provision commits otherwise healthy individuals to lifelong disfigurement and functional impairment, as well as educational and social exclusion [4]. A number of factors may underscore the increase in the popularity of cosmetic surgery. These include the growing
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/srp/2014/869567/