Does Camera Type Affect Patient Comfort? An Analysis of Patient Opinions of Office Photography

Purpose: Photography is an essential part to plastic surgery in terms of procedural planning and documentation. With the increasing quality of commercially available digital cameras, an investigation of the effect of camera type on patient perception of the office visit is necessary. Therefore, we aim to investigate the impact of using a traditional DSLR style camera versus a smartphone in office-based patient photography. Method: A Likert scale survey was completed by patients following office visits to assess comfort with office photography. Key points included: sex, age, number of previous visits, comfort with photographic experience, and camera type used. Results: 100 patients (78 F, 21 M) were included; 47 had photographs taken with a DSLR camera and 52 had photos taken with a smartphone. The mean decade of cohort age was 40 to 49 years old. No statistical difference in patient comfort between DSLR camera and smartphone use was observed (4.71 +/- 0.72 vs 4.64 +/- 0.57, P: .58). When data was stratified by sex or number of previous visits, there was still no difference in comfort across camera types. There was no significant main effect of age on comfort level (P = .109); However, a post-hoc Tukey's analysis showed significant comfort differences between the <18 and 18-29 subgroups and the <18 and 60 to 69 subgroups (P = .040 and P = .041 respectively). Conclusion: Patients were overall equally comfortable with their photographic experience when providers used either camera. Smartphone cameras, therefore, should be regarded as a suitable alternative for office use without fear of invoking negative perceptions in patients.