title: Health-Related Quality of Life Patients With a Cleft Lip and/or Palate.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The authors evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP).
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in the largest referral facility for treating individuals with CLP in Sergipe state. The authors created 3 groups with 97 subjects each: CLP, family, and control. An initial cognitive evaluation was performed with the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Medical Outcomes Study 36 item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) was applied to evaluate HRQoL in individuals with sufficient cognitive capacity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals with CLP usually had a primary education, were single, and had incomes between 1 and 2 minimum wages, and slightly more than half presented with a transforamen cleft (59.8%). No significant difference was observed in the overall HRQoL score among the 3 groups (cleft: 72.2; family: 70.6; control: 72.5). Individuals with CLP had a lower average on the Emotional Aspects domain of the SF-36 than that in the control group, whereas the CLP group had higher averages in the Vitality domain when compared with their relatives. Men had higher averages on the Physical Function (PF) and Mental Health (MH) domains. Patients operated on at the optimal time (≤12 months of age) had higher mean PF domain scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with CLP and their families often represent people with low purchasing power, strengthening the socioeconomic inequality. Although the global HRQoL was similar among all groups surveyed, the cleft influenced both the patients and their relatives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), University Hospital, Sergipe, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosany Larissa Brito
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Thiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: de Santana Santos
authors.forename: Jorge Luiz
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: de Almeida Teixeira
authors.forename: Paulo Ricardo Saquete
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Martins-Filho
authors.forename: Luiz Carlos Ferreira
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000523:psychology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D004644:Emotions; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008603:Mental Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult