A comparative study of quality of life of mothers with infants born with cleft lip and palate versus controls using SF-36 health survey

This study aimed to compare the quality of life of mothers with children born with cleft lip and palate versus mothers with normal children.
Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study (descriptive-analytical), 23 mothers of 1 to 3 months old infants with non-syndromic unilateral cleft lip and palate as well as 23 mothers of normal, non-cleft infants as control group were assessed through the standard quality of life SF-36 questionnaire. Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS software (version 16).
Descriptive statistical analysis (mean, percentage, and standard deviation) and analytical statistical test (independent t-test) were used. (P-value <0.05 was considered as significant.)

Present study showed the average quality of life score of mothers of infants with non-syndromic unilateral cleft lip and palate was 64.49. Also, the average quality of life score in the control group was 67.06. The mean quality of life of the two groups did not have any statistically significant differences (P =0.597).
Also, there was no significant difference between the mothers of affected infants and the control group in eight scopes of the questionnaire including general health, physical function, limitation of role play due to physical reasons, limitation of role play for emotional reasons, social function, physical pain, fatigue or cheerfulness, and mental health (P >0.05). Moreover, both groups had a weak level in terms of role limitation due to physical reasons.

According to the results of the present study, both groups did not show a high level of quality of life. Awareness of this issue can guide to providing the necessary social support for all mothers with newborn infants, especially mothers of infants with congenital anomalies such as cleft lip and palate.