title: Satisfaction with treatment outcome in bilateral cleft lip and palate patients.
abstract: The aim of this case-controlled study was to assess satisfaction with facial appearance and function, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in bilateral cleft lip and palate patients (BCLP). The study sample was composed of adult BCLP subjects and controls matched for age, gender and socioeconomic status. Outcome measures included a self-administered questionnaire evaluating satisfaction with facial appearance, function and HRQL. Bivariate statistics were computed to analyse the association between BCLP status and outcome measures. Forty-three treated adult BCLP patients (mean age 28.2 years, SD 7.8) were compared to 43 controls without clefts (mean age 28.5 years, SD 8.0). Quantitative and qualitative assessment revealed that BCLP patients were significantly less satisfied with the appearance of the upper lip, the nose and nasal breathing. Additionally, satisfaction with facial appearance correlated positively with HRQL. For speech, hearing and drinking, quantitative scores did not differ between BCLP and controls, while qualitative assessment revealed that BCLP patients had considerable problems and concerns with these functions. This study underlines the importance of qualitative assessment of patient satisfaction with treatment outcome to identify individual problems and concerns not revealed by quantitative measures alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. b.c.m.oosterkamp@dmo.umcg.nl
authors.forename: B C M
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Oosterkamp
authors.forename: P U
authors.initials: PU
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Remmelink
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: van Oort
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Goorhuis-Brouwer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sandham
authors.forename: L G M
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: de Bont
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome