General health-related quality of life and oral health impact among Australians with cleft compared with population norms; age and gender differences.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and oral health impact among adults treated for cleft to determine age and gender differences, and to compare against population norms.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional prospective study.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Nonsyndromic cleft patients treated by the Australian Craniofacial Unit from 1975 to 2009 were recruited (n  =  112). Response rate was 79% (n  =  88). Main outcome measures : HRQoL was measured by the Short Form (SF)-36 questionnaire. Oral health impact was measured by the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)-14 questionnaire. State-based and national norms were used for comparative purposes.

RESULTS

There were no significant age or sex differences in the cleft sample's SF-36 and OHIP-14 scores. When compared against South Australian 2002 state-level norms, cleft participants scored higher on physical function and physical role function but lower on vitality and mental health. The prevalence of having experienced one or more of OHIP-14 items "fairly often" or "very often" was 2.7 times higher than national-level estimates, while extent was 2.8 times and severity 1.7 times higher.

CONCLUSIONS

The oral health impact among cleft patients included in our study was poor compared with population-level estimates. The HRQoL showed mixed results, with the vitality and mental health components being poorer in the cleft group compared with population-level estimates. These results indicate that treatment for orofacial clefting does not entirely remove the factors contributing to poor HRQoL and oral health.