Measurement of Health-Related and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life Among Individuals With Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: To compare health-related quality of life and oral health-related quality of life between nonsyndromic individuals with and without cleft lip and/or cleft palate and to identify the most affected quality of life dimensions in individuals with cleft lip and/or palate. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted. Of the 314 identified citations, 23 articles were submitted to quality assessment. Data from nine studies on health-related quality of life and six on oral health-related quality of life were extracted for meta-analysis. Main Outcome Measures: Pooled mean differences of health-related quality of life between adults with and without cleft lip and/or palate, pooled means of health-related quality of life dimensions of children and adults with cleft lip and/or palate and oral health-related quality of life dimensions of children and adolescents with cleft lip and/or palate with a 95% confidence interval were calculated. Results: Quality assessment revealed methodological differences between studies. Lack of subgroup stratification and absence of control for confounders were the main limitations. Heterogeneity was detected on the comparison of oral health-related quality of life and health-related quality of life between children with and without cleft lip and/or palate, and oral health-related quality of life between adolescents with and without cleft lip and/or palate. A random-effect model showed a significant difference on health-related quality of life between adults with and without cleft lip and/or palate (mean difference = 0.10; 95% confidence interval, 0.16 to 0.05). Psychological health (mean, 78.9; 95% confidence interval, 70.1 to 87.7) and vitality (mean, 68.1; 95% confidence interval, 48.0 to 88.1) were the most affected health-related quality of life dimensions in children and adults with cleft lip and/or palate, respectively. Means of health-related quality of life dimensions in children and adults with cleft lip and/or palate and oral health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with cleft lip and/or palate varied yet did not differ in indirect comparisons. Conclusion: The presence of cleft lip and/or palate negatively affected the health-related quality of life of adults, mainly on psychosocial dimensions.