To assess the quality of life of parents of patients with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) undergoing cheiloplasty or palatoplasty in the pre and/or postoperative periods.
Design
This is a mixed method study. The sample consisted of parents/guardians of non-syndromic patients with CL/P undergoing treatment in the University Hospital of Western Paraná in Brazil. Data were collected from February 2022 to December 2023 and included demographic information, the Impact on Family Scale (33 items) to assess quality of life, and semi-structured interviews, followed by content analysis.
Results
Caregivers’ (N = 116) quality of life was generally in the middle to high range and similar across pre and postoperative time points. The most frequent topics identified in interviews were financial difficulties, time required for childcare, esthetic concerns, feeding, phonation, and integration of children into social environments with improvements reported after surgeries.
Conclusion
Quality of life of caregivers was similar across pre and postoperative periods and content analysis highlighted improvements in psychosocial and functional aspects. Early follow-up with specialized services is recommended to improve the quality of life of caregivers of children with CL/P.
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