Increase in minority patients undergoing surgery surpasses their relative increase in national population
TUESDAY, March 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The number of minority patients undergoing cosmetic surgery is on the rise and now surpasses their relative increase in the national population, according to a study published in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Aaron I. Dadzie, from the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, and colleagues queried the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project database from 2010 to 2013 to generate a set of five common cosmetic surgery procedures. Changes over time were examined using a logistic regression analysis.
The researchers found that on average, there was a 10 percent increase in the proportion of cosmetic surgery procedures used by non-White patients. This increase was significantly greater than their relative increase in the population (average of 8 percent annually). There was a 19.9 percent decrease in the proportion of White patients undergoing cosmetic surgery procedures; the decline occurred at a rate that was 7 percent greater than their relative population.
“Plastic surgeons should be aware of the rising demand for cosmetic procedures among underrepresented groups, as well as the financial and cultural factors that may be driving this trend,” senior author Alvin Kwok, M.D., M.P.H., also from the University of Utah, said in a statement.
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