University students and cosmetic surgery in Nigeria: A survey of perception, attitudes, and experiences

Introduction: A global trend to improve appearance has been observed with the advent of technological civilization and contemporary culture. This is related to social customs that places high premium on appearance, and the increased accessibility of cosmetic surgery. This article explores the perception of cosmetic surgery among university students in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. It was divided into four sections; demographic, knowledge, attitude, and experience with cosmetic surgery. The association between knowledge, attitude, practice, and sociodemographic characteristics was sought using Chi-square statistical test. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results: The respondents perceptions of what cosmetic surgery means include surgery for beauty 673 (52%), surgery on the face 84 (7%), use of chemicals for beautification 35 (3%), correction of deformity 37 (2.8%), and 116 (9%) were not sure. A significant association was found in attitude in the 15-25 age group, when asked about willingness to undergo cosmetic surgery. (P = 0.014) and recommending cosmetic surgery (P = 0.024). There was no statistically significant difference in gender when comparing the knowledge, attitude, and practice of cosmetic surgery. There was a significant difference in knowledge of cosmetic surgery among 3 rd and 4 th year students related to having heard about cosmetic surgery (P = 0.048) and knowledge of difference between cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery (P = 0.001). Participants that were single were more aware of cosmetic surgery (P = 0.013) and knew someone who had cosmetic surgery (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Attitudes toward cosmetic surgery are positively related to age, level of study, and marital status. However, there was no statistically significant difference based on gender. Our study also suggests that respondents are aware of the existence of cosmetic procedures, but they do not know what it actually means.