Validation of Ideal Breast Characteristics With Breast Augmentation Patients

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jason D Kelly, Love My Delta, Inc., Philadelphia; Bryan Comstock, Love My Delta, Inc., Philadelphia; Orr Shauly, Emory University; James M Smartt Jr, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Daniel J Gould, Keck School of Medicine of USC
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-02-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 The Aesthetic Society.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/asjof/ojac010
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Aesthetic Surgery Journal
• Volume: 4
• Grant/Funding Information: The funding for this study was provided in full by Love My Delta, Inc (Philadelphia, PA, USA).
• Keywords: beauty; breast; augmentation mammoplasty; demography; perception; crowdsourcing; esthetics; nipples
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Background Breast augmentation procedures are one of the most commonly performed aesthetic procedures in the United States. Little work has focused on the general public’s overall perception of the ideal breast or has validated them with patient photographs. Objectives To validate crowdsourced perceptions of breasts with their alignment to the aesthetics of breast augmentation patients. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study was performed using participants enrolled through the AmazonMechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform (Amazon Web Services, Amazon, Seattle, WA) to obtain participant opinions ofhow closely patient breasts aligned with previously obtained results of 4 ideal breast characteristics. Outcomes were reported based on the correlation between breast attractiveness and alignment to ideal breast characteristics, both before and after breast implant procedures. Results 2306 responses from 737 participants reported patient photograph alignment with ideal breast projection proportion (1.0) as having the highest correlation to opinions of heightened aesthetic beauty (R = 0.98, P < 0.001), and ideal nipple direction (front) as having the lowest correlation to aesthetic beauty (R = 0.90, P < 0.001). Younger age groups (18-24) and participants with a high school diploma or less rated patients as less attractive, while married and wealthy individuals reported higher attraction levels. Conclusions Crowdsourcing can be a useful tool for aesthetic surgery preferences and has helped reveal key takeaways. The importance of the 4 breast characteristics has been validated, with alignment to all 4 characteristics tested having a high correlation to preferences. Differences in preference across demographic groups are a topic to further investigate.