title: Cleft lip and palate:  an objective measure outcome study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cleft lip and/or palate is a debilitating condition if left unrepaired, resulting in significant speech, hearing, swallowing, feeding, and psychosocial impairments. The authors' objective was to determine the potential impact of being born with cleft lip and/or palate by using previously validated health state utility assessment measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  A utility assessment using the visual analogue scale, time trade-off, and standard gamble was used to obtain utilities for cleft lip and/or palate, monocular blindness, and binocular blindness from a prospective sample of the general population and medical students. Average utility scores were compared using paired t test. Linear regression was performed using age, race, and education as independent predictors of each of the utility scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over a 1-year prospective enrollment period, 110 participants were included in our utility analysis. The utility outcome scores for cleft lip and/or palate (visual analogue scale, time trade-off, and standard gamble, 0.69±0.18, 0.85±016, and 0.84±0.18, respectively) were statistically different from those of binocular blindness (visual analogue scale, time trade-off, and standard gamble: 0.38±0.17, 0.70±0.24, and 0.66±0.25, respectively; p<0.001) but not statistically different from those of monocular blindness (visual analogue scale, time trade-off, and standard gamble, 0.67±0.15, 0.86±0.15, and 0.84±0.18, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in utility scores between male and female participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the study demonstrate objectively via health state utility scores that the perceived burden of being born with cleft lip and/or palate is comparable to living with monocular blindness.
authors: Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and Boston, Mass. From the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University; the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University; and the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School.
authors: Hani
authors: H
authors: Sinno
authors: Youssef
authors: Y
authors: Tahiri
authors: Stephanie
authors: S
authors: Thibaudeau
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Izadpanah
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Christodoulou
authors: Samuel J
authors: SJ
authors: Lin
authors: Mirko
authors: M
authors: Gilardino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001766:Blindness / Q000523:psychology; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000523:psychology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires