Comparing the Quality of Life and Patient Satisfaction After Unilateral Alveolar Cleft Repair With 2 Different Materials-An Innovative Questionnaire Study.

BACKGROUND

Bone marrow concentrate (BMC) combined with β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) granules show ideal osteogenic effects compared with autologous iliac crest bone graft (ICBG) in repairing the alveolar bone defect. This study aimed to investigate the quality of life and satisfaction after different treatments and analyze their potential correlation.

METHODS

Fifty-two patients undergoing alveolar cleft repair in our center from 2019 to 2023 were investigated using a questionnaire developed by our team. SPSS and AMOS software were used for reliability and validity tests to determine the final structure of the scale. The descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and difference analysis were conducted based on the questionnaire data.

RESULTS

The final version of the questionnaire includes 3 parts with a total of 14 questions: alveolar repair-related quality of life scale, iliac crest-related quality of life scale, and postoperative satisfaction scale. In this study, the mean values of iliac crest-related quality of life after BMC combined with β-TCP granules repair and ICBG repair were 4.67 and 3.06, and the mean values of overall satisfaction were 4.31 and 3.79, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The innovative questionnaire can be used as a reliable and valid tool for alveolar cleft repair postoperative evaluation. In this study, the quality of life and satisfaction of patients after alveolar cleft repair with both materials were good and positively correlated. Patients repaired by BMC combined with β-TCP had significantly better iliac crest-related quality of life, iliac donor site satisfaction, and overall satisfaction than patients repaired with ICBG.