Assessment of quality of life in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery

Abstract

Clinical question: Analysis to date on the impact of a pronounced skeletal dentofacial deformity on quality of life remains inadequate.

Objective: The objective of this study was to introduce a validated and internationally comparable questionnaire for the assessment of quality of life, and to use this questionnaire in a consecutively-selected patient cohort.

Material and methods: The Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ) used internationally was translated into German and adapted in accordance with EU guidelines (OQLQ-G). A total of 50 patients (f = 25, m = 25) indicated for combined orthodontic and surgical treatment were included in the study. In addition to the assessment of individual questions, the patients were classified according to the following categories: (1) perception of the malocclusion, (2) masticatory function, (3) esthetics, and (4) social aspects. The statistics were assessed with software SPSS((R)) 15.0 (chi-squared test; p = 0.05).

Results: Patients with a pronounced dentofacial malocclusion demonstrated a considerably high awareness of the degree of the deformity. Responses frequently included severe and very severe functional restrictions (50.4%) and/or esthetic impairment (43.0%). With regard to social aspects, the responders also reported a reduction in quality of life.

Conclusion: An internationally-comparable assessment of quality of life in patients with a pronounced jaw discrepancy was carried out for German-speaking countries. This pilot study demonstrates that their quality of life is significantly impaired.