THE IMPACT OF THE MEDIA ON WOMEN WITH BREAST IMPLANTS

Because of the considerable attention given to breast implants by the media, these two surveys were conducted to evaluate how women with breast implants think and feel about the current issues. A telephone questionnaire was administered to 60 women prior to the Food and Drug Administration's moratorium and again following the advisory panel recommendation. The second survey revealed that most subjects felt the media information was accurate, a significant (p = 0.02) change from the first survey responses. The most frequently cited concern about breast implants on the first survey was silicone leakage. It continued to be a major concern on the follow-up survey but was replaced by mammography concerns in the women with augmentation. Concern regarding autoimmune disease increased significantly on the follow-up survey (p = 0.0001). Satisfaction with the decision to have implants changed from 98 percent of the sample before the moratorium to 71 percent of augmentation patients and 79 percent of reconstruction patients after. Women willing to choose the procedure again also declined from 72 percent of reconstructive patients and 58 percent of augmentation patients before to 59 and 52 percent, respectively, after (p = 0.01). The majority (67 percent) acknowledged that the moratorium had an effect on their feelings about breast implants. Negative media information appears to have been a persuasive influence on patients' opinions regarding their implants.