Study: Patient-Reported Outcomes of Bimatoprost for Eyelash Growth

A simple study was published in 2013 looking at the satisfaction of patients that were using bimatoprost, the active ingredient of a treatment often used by Mylash, and known in America as Latisse, for eyelash growth.

There were 278 patients in the study and they were split into two groups – both groups thought that they were using the treatment, but one group was using a placebo.

After 16 weeks of treatment they were asked to complete a questionnaire with 23 items of satisfaction, such as length, thickness, self confidence, attractiveness and overall satisfaction with the treatment.

After stopping the treatment for 4 weeks, they were asked to complete the same questionnaire again.

The study found that patients using bimatoprost had a much better outcome than the placebo when used for eyelash growth and that the satisfaction was maintained 4 weeks after stopping the treatment.

Although this paper does not add to the scientific understanding of the treatment, it does remind us that patient satisfaction is key when it comes to a cosmetic treatment. Some studies have shown that some treatments, such as Botox, can have satisfaction rates of only 70%.

As an interesting aside, there was a surprising amount of patients in the placebo group that were satisfied with their outcome!