Summary
Background
Breast cup size is often used in conversations between patients and their surgeons
to communicate about goals and expectations for postoperative results. Cup size, however,
is a poorly defined concept. The goal of this study was to assess whether the perception
of breast cup size is consistent in a general population of survey respondents.
Methods
A survey consisting of a demographic questionnaire, personal bra use questionnaire,
and 27 de-identified preoperative images of patient's breasts was administered to
500 respondents using the Amazon MTurk platform. Survey respondents were asked to
guess the cup size for each of 27 patients.
Results
On average, respondents correctly identified the patient's reported cup size 43.32%
of the time. Male and female respondents chose the same cup size for most breast images.
Survey respondents who had professional fittings were significantly less likely to
accurately identify cup size (38.75% vs. 42.67%, p = 0.02). Those who had a personal history of breast surgery were also less likely
to choose correctly (36.92% vs. 43.86%, p < 0.01).
Conclusion
The results of this study suggest that the perception of cup size is broadly similar
across a general population sample. However, subgroups who would be expected to have
more knowledge about and experience with breast sizing—including women who have had
professional bra fittings and women who have had breast surgery—differ significantly
in their perception of cup size. This suggests that cup size language should be used
with caution in preoperative discussions between patients and their surgeons.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 24, 2022
Accepted:
August 17,
2022
Received:
May 12,
2022
Footnotes
The authors have no financial disclosures to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
