| Background:Theindustry of aesthetic & cosmetic surgery in China has developed since 1980s. It covers a vast area including plastic surgery, aesthetic dermatology, Chinese medicine, aesthetic dentistry. College studentsare potential costumers and will become the main customers in the market of aesthetic & cosmetic surgery. How they view aesthetic & cosmetic surgery is worth investigation and their point of view is also important for the development of the industry in China.Objective:The objective of this article is to investigatehow college students view aesthetic & cosmetic surgery.Method:This is stratified random sampling, cross- sectional survey based on the classification of colleges and the number of students in each type of colleges. The survey was carried out in all the 91 colleges in Beijing. The statistical method includes descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis and logistic regression analysis.Results:(1)4.2%of college students has undergone one or more aesthetic & cosmetic procedures, with 1.8% in male and 6.6% in female. The procedures performed in female was 3.35 of that in male, which accounted for 77.0% of the whole procedures. (2) 32.7% of male students and 36.1% of female students were unsatisfied with their physical appearance. (3) The most performed procedures in college students wereblepharoplasty, laser treatment, scar revision, each accounting for 42.9%,33.7% and 8.2% of all procedures. (4) The main reasons for college students to undergo cosmetic procedures were to become pretty, to gain self-confidence, the demand of work, to enhance a relationship or to appeal to the someone. (5) Being students of medical schools or art schools, high income of the family, knowing somebody who has undergone cosmetic procedures were factors positively related with male students undergoing cosmetic procedure. Being students of medical schools or art schools, joked for physical appearance, knowing somebody who has undergone cosmetic procedures were factors positively related with female students undergoing cosmetic procedure. (6)73.3% and 26.7% of the students chose to undergo cosmetic procedures in public hospitals and private hospitals in China mainland. Korea was the mostly chosen destination among overseas and HK, Taiwan, Macau. (7) Doctors and hospitals of fame and successful cases of friends were the main factors influencing the students’ choice of hospitals. (8) Satisfaction rate among male and female students were respectively 73.3% and 82.9% and the difference was not statistically significant. (9) Whether one was satisfied with the previous cosmetic procedures was not related to his/her future choices of undergoing cosmetic procedures. (10) Unideal resultwas the main reason for satisfaction of procedures. (11) 10.4% male students and 12.8% female students once considered cosmetic procedures. The most concerned procedures were blepharoplasty, laser treatment and rhinoplasty. (12) 10.8% male students and 12.8% female students of those who ever considered cosmetic procedures went for consultation. Those who did not ever consulted were mainly for the reasons "no seriously consideration", "not enough time", "too expensive", "media has put me off". (13) The reasons for not undergo a procedure after consultation were mainly "concerns about safety", "concerns of time", "concerns of time". (14) 3.2% of male students and 11.5% female students has plans to undergo cosmetic procedures in fives years. Laser treatment, blepharoplasty and rhinoplasty are the most chosen procedures. (15) Those who has previously had cosmetic procedures were more inclined to has procedures in the future. (16) High personal income, high family income, poor family relationships, joked for physical appearance were positively related with inclination for future cosmetic procedures in male students. High personal income, poor family relationships, knowing someone who’s previously had cosmetic procedures were positively related with inclination for future cosmetic procedures in male students. (17) The most chosen medical facilities for future cosmetic procedures were domestic public hospitals (60.6%). Korea ranked second (37.1%). (18) Domestic public hospitals and private hospitals were the most and second to most choice for medical facilities among those who has previously had cosmetic procedures. (19) About 70% of the students show acceptance of cosmetic procedures for their assumed partners in a variety of degrees. Blepharoplasty, laser treatment, scar revision were the most accepted. (20) about 2/3 of the students indicated that they don’t mind if others get to their experience of cosmetic procedure. (21) Official websites, recommendations from friend, recommendations from doctors were the most trusted information channel among college students. Advertisements were not likely to be trusted. Conclusion:The ratio of college students who’s undergone cosmetic procedures was low. Most of the students has limited access and knowledge of aesthetic & cosmetic surgery. The industry of aesthetic & cosmetic surgery needs promotion. Korea, Japan and the US would become competitors of the Chinese aesthetic & cosmetic surgery market in the future. Domestic industry of aesthetic & cosmetic surgery would should learn from the experience from Korea. Setting-up and maintenance of official websites, word of mouth, and interactive platform of patients and doctors are very important for promotion of hospitals and doctors. Untargeted advertisement would have a low cost-effectiveness ratio.
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