Contrasting evidence of the effectiveness of cosmetic surgery from two health related quality of life measures.

Cosmetic surgery is a controversial intervention because it is often regarded as a low priority for public provision. It is increasingly argued that decisions about the public provision of medical and surgical procedures should be made in the light of evidence of effectiveness from patient-based outcome measures. However, very diVerent impressions of eVectiveness may be found depending on choice of outcome measure. This short report therefore evaluates two widely used but contrasting approaches to the measurement of health related quality of life to assess the eVectiveness of cosmetic surgery.