Author(s)
Zev Hirt, BA
Lindsey Stephen, BS
Jianyou Liu, MS
James Barret, BA
Andrew Lee, MD
Affiliation(s)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine;
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to see how individuals in the combat sports community view cauliflower ear more positively than the general population.
Objectives: Cauliflower ear, or “hematoma auris,” is a permanent condition that is typically viewed as a deformity. Despite this, it has anecdotally been observed that combat-sport athletes view cauliflower ear as a respected aesthetic trait. This study characterizes and quantifies the differences between combat-sport athletes and the general public during their first impressions of subjects with cauliflower ear.
Study Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, participants were shown frontal and profile views of four subjects with cauliflower ear and five control subjects. Respondents evaluated their initial impressions of the images regarding a range of personal attributes, such as successfulness, attraction, approachability, and emotion. The ratings were quantified on a numeric scale from 0-100 and also categorized via latent class analysis (LCA) into three classes: positive, neutral, and negative.
Results: 678 combat-sport-athletes and 129 non combat-sport-athletes participated in the survey. Respondents in the combat-sports community rated subjects with cauliflower ear significantly more favorably than those in the general population in all personal attributes: successfulness (+4.03, 95% CI:1.8-6.2, p=0.0003), attractiveness (+4.11, 95% CI:1.8-6.4, p=0.0005) approachability (+11.57, 95% CI: 8.4-14.7, p<0.0001), and emotion (+4.14, 95% CI: 1.9-6.3, p=0.0002). Respondents with a background in combat sports were estimated to be approximately six times (relative odds =7.09; p<0.001) more likely to have a positive first impression of a person with cauliflower ear than the general population.
Conclusions: Confirming anecdotal observation, the combat sports community has a more positive perception of cauliflower ear than the general population. Conditions that are typically viewed as deformities can be looked upon favorably in specific sub-populations.