Young patients' treatment motivation and satisfaction with orthognathic surgery outcomes: the role of "possible selves".

Introduction: We investigated how young patients' motivation for orthognathic surgery affected their satisfaction with treatment outcomes. The objective was to explore whether patients' "possible selves" (ie, their ideas of what they might become in the future) and their parents' proxy assessments of the patients' possible selves were significantly correlated with the patients' treatment satisfaction.

Methods: Questionnaire data were collected from 115 former patients (ages, 13-21 at time of surgery) and 117 parents (response rates, 41% and 42%, respectively), with responses from 95 patient-parent pairs. The patients' motivations before surgery were assessed by determining how energized they were by thoughts about themselves after the surgery, and how much they had focused on the outcomes. The parents completed a parallel measure of their children's motivation. Patient satisfaction was determined with the postsurgical patient satisfaction questionnaire.

Results: The more emotionally energized the patients had been before the surgery, the more satisfied they were with the outcomes (Spearman rho = .54, P <0.001). Similarly, the more these patients had focused on esthetic changes and improved functioning, the more satisfied they were with the outcomes (Spearman rho = .46, P <0.001; rho = .41, P <0.001, respectively). Parents' recalls of their children's motivation before the surgery were consistent with the children's self-reports (all P <0.001) and correlated with the children's satisfaction (P <0.001 in the energized domain; P <0.01 for the esthetic changes domain).

Conclusions: Young patients' recalls of their possible self-based motivation for orthognathic surgery were highly correlated with their treatment satisfaction. Oral surgeons and orthodontists should discuss with young patients and their parents the patient's motivation during the consultation phase before treatment to assess how energized and focused they are on future treatment outcomes.