Background: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterised by an obsessive preoccupation with a slight defect in appearance, and recognition is essential. Objective: To screen by a previously developed questionnaire the prevalence of BDD in an aesthetics clinic in Singapore. This questionnaire has a positive predictive value of 70% and a negative predictive value of 100%; patients answering that they were preoccupied with their appearance and having answered ‘yes’ in part A, answered 8 further questions (part B) grading the degree of distress (B4) and impairment (B5) of social functioning. Methods: The questionnaire was given to 396 patients: 198 attending Mandalay Aesthetics Clinic and 198 controls at a general outpatient clinic. The screen was considered suggestive of BDD if the patients: were preoccupied by their defect (question A) and qualified the degree of stress (question B4) or impairment of functioning (question B5) as moderate to severe. Results: 58.1% of patients undergoing cosmetic procedures answered ‘yes’ to question A (odds ratio = 18.21, 95% confidence interval = 9.87–33.59). 41.74 and 26.96% of those qualified the distress (question B4) and impairment (question B5) as moderate to severe. Conclusion: A calculated prevalence of 29.4% in an aesthetics centre warrants systematic screening for BDD.

Keywords:
Psychodermatology, Psychocutaneous disorders, Body dysmorphic disorder, Laser surgery, Cosmetic dermatology
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© 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel
2009
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