Expression of Emotion and Quality of Life After Facial Nerve Paralysis

Abstract

Movement deficits associated with expressing specific emotions and an association with quality-of-life measures were identified in patients with long-term facial nerve paralysis who saw themselves as not effective at facial expression of emotions. To improve management of emotional expression in patients with facial nerve paralysis, a broader approach is recommended, linking the practitioner's treatment goals with patient-driven outcome goals.

Face-to-Face Versus Video Assessment of Facial Paralysis: Implications for Telemedicine (Preprint)

“…It grades patients in a more objective and continuous manner than the House-Brackmann system, and each component of the system is sensitive to change and contributes to a change in the composite score [1,3,8,26,28,30,32,34,35].…”

“…The Sydney Facial Grading System, which assesses voluntary movement of the five branches of the facial nerve and overall synkinesis, has also been used regionally in Australia [1,6,26] and reported in International Facial Nerve Symposium Conference Proceedings over a 20-year period.…”

“…Agreement between face-to-face and video-assessed House-Brackmann grades, Sydney scores, and Sunnybrook scores was assessed using the one-way random, single measure intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC [1,1]), and two-tailed repeat measures t-tests. ICC (1,1) was selected because each participant was assessed by a different set of assessors.…”

“…This affects an individual's ability to express emotions via facial movements (e.g. frowning, smiling, or pouting) thereby compromising interpersonal communication [1][2][3][4]. The effects of FNP are not only limited to physical and aesthetic deficits caused by weakness, synkinesis (involuntary muscle movements accompanying voluntary movements) and asymmetry of the resting and moving face [1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…frowning, smiling, or pouting) thereby compromising interpersonal communication [1][2][3][4]. The effects of FNP are not only limited to physical and aesthetic deficits caused by weakness, synkinesis (involuntary muscle movements accompanying voluntary movements) and asymmetry of the resting and moving face [1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9][10]. FNP is also associated with functional effects such as oral incontinence, speech deficits, dry eye and subsequent corneal damage, and psychosocial effects such as decreased self-esteem, psychological distress, depression, and reduced quality of life [1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”