Health related quality of life of patients with non-syndromic orofacial clefts

ObjectiveTo evaluate the relation between health-related quality of life (QOL), in a large representative group of adolescents with non-syndromic orofacial clefts.Study design724 non-syndromic patients with an orofacial cleft who had finished their surgical treatment were included in this prospective study. Mean age of the patients was 16.8 years (SD = 1.9). Patients were divided into two groups: cleft lip (CL), and cleft lip and palate (CLP). The CL and CLP group were again divided into patients with unilateral and bilateral cleft lips. Health related quality of life was measured using a modified SF-36 questionnaire to measure eight dimensions. To validate the modified SF-36 questionnaire, a control group of 744 patients who had undergone ENT surgeries were given the same questionnaire.ResultsThe answers of the ENT patients were compared with the answers of the cleft patients, using the Chi-Square test. Cleft patients showed a high score on the eight dimensions of the questionnaire. For five of the dimensions the mean score was above 4. The lowest score was found on bodily pain (mean 3.45). There was no effect of age. Having a cleft palate influenced all eight dimensions statistically more in a negative way than a cleft lip does.ConclusionOn average cleft patients have a good health related quality of life. However, there were differences in the levels of satisfaction. The major factor influencing quality of life negatively was the presence of a cleft palate.