title: Parental Perceptions of Neurodevelopment in Toddlers Following Craniosynostosis Repair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relationship between nonsyndromic craniosynostosis and neurodevelopment remains controversial. Beyond standardized testing, little data exist about parental perceptions of their child's development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents of children who underwent cranial vault remodeling for nonsyndromic craniosynostosis from 2011 to 2015 were asked to complete an anonymous survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-two parents (31%) completed the survey. Patients included 52.4% males and 47.6% females with a mean age at surgery of 9.2 months and mean follow-up time of 19.8 months. Craniosynostosis types were primarily metopic (45%) and coronal (35%).The mean score for overall satisfaction with head shape with a maximum score of 10 was 9.2 (range 5-10). When answering whether their child is different for the better other than appearance with a 5 rating as "strongly agree," the mean score was 3.8 (range 1-5). When asked whether their child's motor, speech and behavior, or attention were different following surgery, the majority responded "No" (74%, 83%, and 67%, respectively).All parents would have their child undergo surgery again or recommend surgery to another family. There were no statistically significant differences when stratifying by age at surgery or length of follow-up. When stratifying by sex, parents of males gave higher ratings for whether their children were better other than appearance compared with females, 4.8 versus 3.1 (P = 0.031).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents rated their child's neurodevelopment as largely age-appropriate following cranial vault remodeling. These findings are concordant with the majority of formal, standardized testing for this age group. Assessing parental perceptions once children enter school age may reveal increased developmental delays.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Plastic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY †Division of Plastic Surgery, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alperovich
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Golinko
authors.forename: Z-Hye
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Runyan
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Staffenberg
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D003398:Craniosynostoses / Q000601:surgery*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires