The Eurocleft Study: Intercenter Study of Treatment Outcome in Patients with Complete Cleft Lip and Palate. Part 4: Relationship among Treatment Outcome, Patient/Parent Satisfaction, and the Burden of Care

Abstract

This study highlights various challenges involved in questionnaire surveys into patient/parent satisfaction, and underlines the need for collective efforts to improve our understanding of this issue.

Scandcleft randomised trials of primary surgery for unilateral cleft lip and palate: 10. Parental perceptions of appearance and treatment outcomes in their 5-year-old child

“…Parent perspectives are also valuable, particularly in the child's early years, and are important to include when evaluating treatment outcomes of randomised trials such as the Scandcleft trials, if cleft teams are to fully understand the complexity of satisfactory treatment outcomes [17]. Therefore, parent reports were included in the Scandcleft project, in addition to evaluations of surgical, orthodontic, and speech outcomes.…”

Oral health-related quality of life, and satisfaction with treatment and treatment outcomes of adolescents/young adults with cleft lip/palate: an exploration

“…Satisfaction with functional aspects, such as speech and hearing, were shown to increase with age 2,18 . Few patients and parents reported overall dissatisfaction with treatment 10,20,22 . However, both patients and parents agreed that dissatisfaction revolved around appearance of the nose, lip and facial profile rather than functional components, such as speech and hearing, which were nevertheless important considerations 4,21 .…”

High patient satisfaction after secondary rhinoplasty in cleft lip patients

“…It is known that the "objective" measuring of aesthetic or functional outcome is not a good predictor of patient satisfaction. 13 Satisfaction is not only dependent on the surgeon's skills, but also on a variety of factors such as humaneness of the professional, amount of information given by the professional, cost of the procedure, and attention to the psychosocial problems of the patient. 14 This study is the first to assess patient satisfaction after secondary rhinoplasty in cleft lip patients using a validated research tool.…”