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. 2022 Jan;59(1):47-53.
doi: 10.1177/1055665621993282. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Changes in the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Infants With Cleft Lip and/or Palate Before and After Surgical Treatment

Roxana Patricia López Ramos  1 , Daniel José Blanco Victorio  2 , Gilmer Torres Ramos  3 , Mónica J Pajuelo  2 , Jenny Abanto  4
Affiliations

Changes in the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Infants With Cleft Lip and/or Palate Before and After Surgical Treatment

Roxana Patricia López Ramos et al. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: To assess oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) changes before and after the primary surgical treatment in infants with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P).

Design: Quasi-experimental study.

Methods: A total of 106 infants with CL/P younger than 2 years undergoing primary surgical treatment in the Plastic Surgery Service of the Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño in Peru. The parent/caregiver answered a questionnaire about OHRQoL named the Peruvian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (P-ECOHIS) in the pretreatment (baseline) and follow-up post-treatment. The total score of P-ECOHIS and their 2 sections (child impact and family impact) in the baseline and each follow-up period post-treatment scores were assessed. As well as, the type of the CL/P on OHRQoL, standardized effect sizes (ES) based on mean total change scores (difference between baseline and 12th month) were analyzed.

Results: Improvements in infant's OHRQoL after treatment were reflected in each follow-up period P-ECOHIS score compared to the baseline score. The total P-ECOHIS scores decreased significantly from 28.07 (baseline) to 7.7 (12th month; P < .0001), as did the individual domain scores (P < .0001). There were significant differences in the baseline and follow-up post-treatment scores of infants who reported improvement of the OHRQoL (P < .0001). The ES was large (3.79). The cleft lip had an improvement in the OHRQoL at 12th month post-treatment (P < .0001).

Conclusions: Primary surgical post-treatment resulted in significant improvement of the infant's OHRQoL with CL/P.

Keywords: cleft lip; cleft palate; infant; oral health; quality of life; surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study flowchart.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Total score of the P-ECOHIS according to sections (child impact and family impact) and follow-up period post-treatment. P-ECOHIS indicates Peruvian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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