Ren Yuan-yuan, Zhao Shou-qin, Xue Yu-bin
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Key Laboratory of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100730, China.
Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2012 Jan 31;92(4):269-71.
To explore the congenital ear malformation (CEM)-specific quality of life (QOL) and examine the effects of total ear reconstruction surgery for QOL of CEM patients.
A self-composed QOL scale was used for 129 patients with congenital external and middle ear malformation. All patients were requested to fill in the QOL scale before and 1 month after ear reconstruction surgery.
The level of QOL varied according to the degree of ear malformation. The total QOL score of patients with unilateral and bilateral CEM was 28.5 ± 18.4 and 51.6 ± 23.6, respectively. The total QOL score of patients pre- and post-operation was 21.0 ± 14.0 and 14.2 ± 9.7 respectively. Physiological functions, psychological status and social interactions of the patients were of statistical significance after ear reconstruction surgery compared to that of at pre-operation.
Congenital ear malformation-specific QOL scale can show sensitively the changes of QOL of CEM patients. And ear reconstruction surgery is beneficial for the patients.
