Assessment of patients' level of satisfaction with cleft treatment using the Cleft Evaluation Profile.
OBJECTIVE
Determination of the psychosocial status and assessment of the level of satisfaction in Malaysian cleft palate patients and their parents.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Sixty cleft lip and palate patients (12 to 17 years of age) from Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia and their parents were selected. The questionnaires used were the Child Interview Schedule, the Parents Interview Schedule, and the Cleft Evaluation Profile (CEP), administered via individual interviews.


RESULTS
Patients were teased because of their clefts and felt their self-confidence was affected by the cleft condition. They were frequently teased about cleft-related features such as speech, teeth, and lip appearance. Parents also reported that their children were being teased because of their clefts and that their children's self-confidence was affected by the clefts. Both showed a significant level of satisfaction with the treatment provided by the cleft team. There was no significant difference between the responses of the patients and their parents. The features that were found to be most important for the patients and their parents, in decreasing order of priority, were teeth, nose, lips, and speech.


CONCLUSIONS
Cleft lip and/or palate patients were teased because of their clefts, and it affected their self-confidence. The Cleft Evaluation Profile is a reliable and useful tool to assess patients' level of satisfaction with treatment received for cleft lip and/or palate and can identify the types of cleft-related features that are most important for the patients.
Noor
Siti Noor Fazliah Mohd
SN
Pediatric Dentistry Unit, School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Musa
Sabri
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012917:Social Adjustment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires