Comparison of Facial Aesthetic Evaluation Given by Patients with Cleft Lip and/or Palate and Professionals: A Systematic Review

Objective To compare the differences of facial aesthetic evaluation between patients with Cleft Lip and/or Palate (CL/P) and professionals for the treatment outcome of CL/P. Design This systematic review was conducted on MedLine, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library databases. The Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Intervention (ROBINS-I) tool was used to evaluate the included researches. Setting Not applicable. Patients, Participants Patients with CL/P and professionals Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures The facial aesthetic evaluation of patients with CL/P and professionals. Results Among the 1695 literatures retrieved, 22 articles were included, including 974 patients with CL/P and 251 professionals. The bias risk assessment on 21 articles was rated “Moderate” and only one article was rated “Serious”. Due to the high heterogeneity of the included studies, meta-analysis was not possible, so descriptive analysis was conducted. Among the included studies, two articles indicated similar views from both groups, 19 noted differences between the two groups, of which three articles indicated more positive evaluation by professionals and nine articles indicated more positive evaluation by patients. Conclusions The available data indicate that there is a difference between patients with CL/P and professionals in the aesthetic evaluation, but it is not clear which group is more positive. During the treatment of patients with CL/P, apart from the objective aesthetic evaluation, professionals should fully consider subjective ideas and self-assessment of patients, in order to improve the quality of life for patients.