Evaluation of the Health-Related Quality of Life in Non-Syndromic Persian Toddlers with Orofacial Clefts Undergoing Team Care and Compared with a Control Group.

Objectives: Maintaining and enhancing patients' quality of life (QoL) are considered the most significant objectives in healthcare systems. These objectives are directly associated with the intervention of healthcare providers across the globe. This study aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of toddlers who have undergone interventions for oral clefts and compare it with a healthy control group.

Materials & methods: The present study is cross-sectional. Thirty-six toddlers aged 18 to 36 months with oral clefts undergoing team care were recruited from a pediatric hospital and matched with healthy peers based on inclusion criteria. Demographic characteristics were collected before the TNO-AZL preschool children's quality of life (TAPQoL) questionnaire was completed.

Results: The QoL was compared to an overall score and the average score of items and domains on the TAPQoL questionnaire between the groups. The results showed a significant difference between the two groups in social functioning (t=2.96, p = 0.004), cognitive functioning (t=2.21, p = 0.03), emotional functioning (t=3.99, p<0.01), and the total score (p<0.001). However, no significant difference was observed in physical functioning (t= 0.78, p=0.43), and toddlers with oral clefts had more reasonable scores.

Conclusion: The QoL of toddlers with oral clefts who received care from a multidisciplinary team was slightly better than that of the healthy group. Therefore, participating in these teams could lead these children to a similar QoL as their peers. Medical systems can provide easy accessibility to cleft care teams for patients and their families.