Quality of life in adults with repaired complete cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the quality of life in adult Swedish subjects with repaired complete cleft lip and palate (CLP). DESIGN/PATIENTS: Sixty-eight adults with repaired CLP were compared with a group of 66 adults without cleft matched by gender and age. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome measures included a self-report questionnaire concerning quality of life in general, well-being, and health-related quality of life. RESULTS: The CLP group rated their quality of life significantly lower than did the control group in the areas of life meaning (p <.05), family life (p <.0001), and private economy (p <.01). There were no significant differences between the groups concerning well-being. In the CLP group, the health-related quality of life was significantly lower concerning global life (p <.0001), disturbance to life (p <.01), well-being (p <.0001), social contacts (p <.0001), and family life (p <.05) but significantly higher concerning ability to make the most of leisure time (p <.001) and to be active (p <.001). CONCLUSIONS: The CLP group perceived a marked impact of the handicap on their lives concerning global aspects, well-being, and social life. More practical and tangible aspects of their daily living, however, were not affected, and only some minor aspects of their quality of life in general were poor in comparison with the control group, which indicates a fairly good life adjustment in spite of the handicap.