Identifying the effect of cleft type, deprivation and ethnicity on speech and dental outcomes in UK cleft patients: a multi-centred study.

BACKGROUND: Outcome measures are increasingly important in the modern National Health Service. In the care of children born with cleft lip and/or palate there are many different outcomes to consider but only a few reliable, validated outcome measures exist. The dmft (decayed, missing and filled teeth) index and cleft speech characteristics (CSCs) are used regularly by cleft teams throughout the UK to assess outcomes in children with cleft lip and/or palate. We hypothesized that these two outcome measures might be significantly influenced by the demographics of the populations studied independent of the care provided. METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients aged between five and six referred to three regional cleft centres during a twelve month period were included in the study. Speech and dental outcomes were compared with patient ethnicity, cleft type and level of deprivation as determined by the Carstairs score. RESULTS: The data of 287 patients were used. Speech was significantly affected by cleft type (p < 0.03), whereas dentition was significantly affected by ethnicity (p = 0.002) and deprivation (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the demographics of cleft populations can significantly affect the measures of outcome used to assess the quality of care provided by cleft teams. It has also demonstrated that these demographics are not evenly distributed across the country and that some cleft teams will have a more 'at risk' population than others. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Risk, level II.

The continuing multidisciplinary needs of adult patients with cleft lip and/or palate.

OBJECTIVE: Babies born with cleft lip and/or palate are followed-up throughout their growth in childhood. During adulthood, they may require further functional and/or aesthetic treatment. Adult multidisciplinary cleft clinics have been in place in the West Midlands, U.K. since June 2000. The aim of this study was to review the number and nature of problems these adult patients had and the types of treatment they required. DESIGN: All adult patients seen in 2004 were identified. Case notes were reviewed for patient epidemiology, problems at initial presentation, and interventions carried out until their last clinic visit in 2004. RESULTS: In 2004, there were 145 patients seen in the adult cleft clinic. Of those, 55 patients attended as part of their continuing care. Ninety were newly referred as adults to the cleft service. Patients ranged in age from 15 to 70 years and had, on average, three clinical problems each. One hundred and sixteen patients were listed for surgery of varying types, nine patients had nonsurgical speech-related intervention, 21 patients had restorative dental intervention, and 16 patients needed an extended clinical psychology assessment. CONCLUSION: For some patients who have had a cleft lip and/or palate, problems continue into adulthood or arise later in life. These problems are often multiple and treatment often requires the input of more than one specialist. The results of this audit support the need for coordinated multidisciplinary care for adults who have had a cleft lip and/or palate.