No abstract

ocial media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are examples of a new generation of powerful online tools that enable people to communicate and interact instantly with a potentially limitless audience. These online networks began as a medium for social connection; in recent years, however, social media platforms have been recognized as effective and inexpensive ways to reach a wide variety of target audiences. Social media platforms have since found their way into the toolboxes of medical students, residents, physicians, and medical professionals worldwide. 1 Plastic surgeons in particular embraced creating and implementing social media, and use them to enhance their clinical practice through advertising, marketing, and sharing education-related information. The use of social media in plastic surgery is not limited to individuals; both the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons 2 have endorsed social media by incorporating Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube applications into their websites and national meetings.The most recent U.S. Census reveals that the racial composition of the majority of Americans is white. African Americans are the largest racial minority, accounting for an estimated 13.4 percent of the population. Hispanics and Latino Americans are the largest ethnic minority,

Purpose: Surgeon and patient-related factors have been shown to in uence patient experiences, quality of life (QoL), and surgical outcomes. We examined the association between surgeon-patient race-and gender-concordance with QoL after breast reconstruction.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of patients who underwent lumpectomy or mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction over a 3-year period. We created the following categories with respect to the race and gender of a patient-surgeon triad: no-, intermediate-, and perfectconcordance. Multivariable regression was used to correlate post-operative global (SF-12) and conditionspeci c (BREAST-Q) QoL performance with patient-level covariates, gender-and race-concordance.Results: We identi ed 375 patients with a mean (±SD) age of 57.6±11.9 years, median (IQR) body mass index of 27.5 (24.0, 32.0), and median morbidity burden of 3 (2, 4). The majority of encounters were of intermediate concordance for gender (70%) and race (52%). Compared with gender discordant triads, intermediate gender concordance was associated with higher SF-Mental scores (b, 2.60; 95% CI, 0.21 to 4.99, p=0.003). Perfect race concordance (35% of encounters) was associated with signi cantly higher adjusted SF-Physical scores (b, 2.14; 95% CI, 0.50 to 4.22, p=0.045) than the race-discordant group. There were no signi cant associations observed between race-or gender-concordance and BREAST-Q performance.Conclusions: Race concordant relationships following breast cancer surgery were more likely to have improved global QoL. Perfect gender concordance was not associated with variation in QoL outcomes. Policy-level interventions are needed to facilitate personalized care and optimize breast cancer surgery outcomes.