Letters

Should breast reduction surgery be rationed?

EDITOR,--Anne Klassen and colleagues conclude from their study that breast reduction surgery improves the health status of women and should be included in NHS purchasing contracts.¹ We are concerned, however, about the high number of patients excluded from the crucial analysis.

Of 166 patients deemed to be studied, only 128 (77%) responded to the preoperative questionnaire. Why 10 of the 166 patients were excluded is not clear. The response rate to the postoperative questionnaire was even worse: of the 128 patients who responded to the preoperative questionnaire, only 85 were operated on and only 58 (68%) completed the postoperative questionnaire. Finally, only 54 women (that is, 33% of the initial 166) completed both the preoperative and the postoperative questionnaires; this is the most important group of patients. Although there was no significant difference in most variables between non-responders and responders, the . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Should breast reduction surgery be rationed? A comparison of the health status of patients before and after treatment: postal questionnaire survey

Anne Klassen, Ray Fitzpatrick, Crispin Jenkinson, and Tim Goodacre
BMJ 1996 313: 454-457. [Abstract] [Full Text]