The Cleft Aesthetic Rating Scale for 18-Year-Old Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients: A Tool for Nasolabial Aesthetics Assessment

F J Mulder, D G M Mosmuller, H C W de Vet, C M Mouës, C C Breugem, A B Mink van der Molen, J P W Don Griot

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective To develop a reliable and easy-to-use method to assess the nasolabial appearance of 18-year-old patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (CLP). Design Retrospective analysis of nasolabial aesthetics using a 5-point ordinal scale and newly developed photographic reference scale: the Cleft Aesthetic Rating Scale (CARS). Three cleft surgeons and 20 medical students scored the nasolabial appearance on standardized frontal photographs. Setting VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam. Patients Inclusion criteria: 18-year-old patients, unilateral cleft lip and palate, available photograph of the frontal view.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA: history of facial trauma, congenital syndromes affecting facial appearance. Eighty photographs were available for scoring. Main Outcome Measures The interobserver and intraobserver reliability of the CARS for 18-year-old patients when used by cleft surgeons and medical students. Results The interobserver reliability for the nose and lip together was 0.64 for the cleft surgeons and 0.61 for the medical students. There was an intraobserver reliability of 0.75 and 0.78 from the surgeons and students, respectively, on the nose and lip together. No significant difference was found between the cleft surgeons and medical students in the way they scored the nose ( P = 0.22) and lip ( P = 0.72). Conclusions The Cleft Aesthetic Rating Scale for 18-year-old patients has a substantial overall estimated reliability when the average score is taken from three or more cleft surgeons or medical students assessing the nasolabial aesthetics of CLP patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1006-1012
Number of pages7
JournalThe Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association
Volume55
Issue number7
Early online date1 Jan 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2018

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