Differences in specific concerns perceived by parents of children with cleft lip and/or palate based on the types of cleft

Abstract

Background: Parents of children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) have concerns including guilt and worry. Differences in concerns by cleft type is, however, under-researched.

Aim: To compare differences in perceived concerns among parents of children with CL/P by cleft type, adjusting for children's gender and age.

Design: Cross-sectional study conducted in an outpatient centre, assessing psychological status of 171 parents of children aged <12 with CL/P using 12 items.

Results: Across cleft types, 'I am worried about whether the child's teeth will be straight' was the most strongly perceived concern (70.8%). After adjusting for gender and age, logistic regression showed significant differences in type of CL/P for (eg) 'I am worried that the child's appearance will not be beautiful', associated with CL over CP (OR = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.02-0.26) and CLP over CP (8.52, 3.23-22.50);' 'I am concerned about my child being able to speak well', associated with CP (3.12, 1.07-9.11) and CLP (5.69, 2.43-13.33) over CL, and 'I am worried that the child could suffer due to his/her appearance', associated with CL over CP (0.08, 0.02-0.29) and CLP over CP (10.07, 13.78-27.36).

Conclusions: Parents' concerns were influenced by cleft type.

Keywords: behaviour; growth and development; syndromes head and neck/cleft lip and palate.