AFFECT
Principal Investigator
Professor Iain Whitaker
Institution
Swansea University, The Scar Free Foundation Programme of Reconstructive Research
Area
How do we live with scarring?
Completed
November 2023
Co-funded by Health and Care Research Wales
Our faces play a big part in how we connect with others and how we see ourselves. In a society which is pre-occupied with appearance, having a facial scar can have a big impact on our happiness and social life. People with facial scars can face mental health issues like anxiety or depression.
To improve the care of people living with scars, we need to know how widespread the problem is. AFFECT aimed to find out how prevalent facial scarring and mental health problems are in Wales.
AFFECT stands for Assessing the burden oF Facial scarring and associated mEntal health Conditions to identify patients at greatesT risk.
What did the researchers do?
The research team used an anonymised databank called SAIL as the basis for their analysis.
Using health data from Wales, they found 179,079 people with facial scars. These records were matched by socio-economic status, age of facial scarring, and sex to the same number of people without scars.
The researchers compared the GP records of these matched pairs. This allowed them to see how many people with facial scars were treated for anxiety and depression, compared to people without facial scars.
What did the researchers find?
They found that people with facial scars are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.
The research showed that certain factors affect how often people with facial scars experience anxiety and depression:
- People whose scars came from self-harm, assault, or traumatic injuries like burns are most likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.
- People whose scars came from congenital conditions (conditions they are born with) are the least likely to be treated for anxiety and depression.
- Women, people with a history of poor mental health, and people experiencing deprivation are also at a higher risk.
What difference will this research make?
This research is an important step in setting up more robust systems of support for patients with facial scarring.
Doctors, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals can be better prepared to help patients after accidents or surgery.
“I’ve been a plastic surgeon for 20 years, and I see a huge number of patients that need to have cancers on their face removed, or who have facial injuries. Every surgery leaves a scar but currently, there is an absence of psychological support for patients.
It’s important to me as a doctor that I know the repercussions of treatment on my patients beyond the immediate physical effects. I want to give my patients better information and a better patient experience. I hope this research leads to a more robust system of mental health support for patients with facial scars.”
Professor Iain Whitaker, Lead Investigator
“This study shows how important it is for patients to be offered good psychological support throughout their journey. The illness or event that leads to a facial scar is often fleeting, but our scars will be with us forever.”
Read Jaco’s story and hear why the AFFECT study matters to people living with facial scars.
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