The Eurocleft Study: Intercenter Study of Treatment Outcome in Patients with Complete Cleft Lip and Palate. Part 4: Relationship among Treatment Outcome, Patient/Parent Satisfaction, and the Burden of Care

Abstract

Objective To assess patient/parent satisfaction with the treatment they had received from their respective teams, and to explore interrelationships between satisfaction, objectively rated outcome, and the burden of care. Design This study reports cross-sectional data as part of the overall longitudinal cohort study reported in the other four papers of this series. Setting Multidisciplinary cleft services in Northern Europe. Subjects 127 consecutively treated 17-year-olds with repaired complete unilateral cleft lip and palate and their parents. Main Outcome Measure Patient/parent satisfaction. Results Generally, there was a high level of patient/parent satisfaction. There were no relationships among satisfaction, objectively rated outcomes, and the amount of care. Conclusions This study highlights various challenges involved in questionnaire surveys into patient/parent satisfaction, and underlines the need for collective efforts to improve our understanding of this issue.