Evaluation of nasolabial esthetics in 8- to 12-year-old patients with cleft lip and palate by healthcare professionals in Northeast Thailand

Objective: To assess the aesthetics of the nasolabial appearance of patients with cleft lip and palate aged 8-12 years by experienced and inexperienced professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 32 patients with cleft lip and palate, who underwent surgery and follow-up treatment at the Cleft Center. The research tools included a parent-completed survey providing GO graphic data and two-dimensional frontal view photographs of patients from both left and right sides. The aesthetic of the lip, nose, and nasolabial region was evaluated by an experienced and inexperienced medical professional team in groups of four individuals. In addition, data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, mean values, standard deviations, Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The average age of patients was 10.32 years, mainly male (65.63%), had unilateral cleft lip and palate (62.50%), and underwent bone grafting (96.88%). Regarding the assessment in three aspects, the aesthetic score assessed by experienced evaluators is fair level (2.64 +/- 1.09) with an acceptable value of 0.73. In contrast, the inexperienced evaluator showed a high level (2.43 +/- 0.83) with a high inter-rater reliability acceptable value of 0.60. Inexperienced evaluators showed higher scores for the lip and nasolabial region than experienced evaluators, which was statistically significant (p-values < 0.01). Conclusions: The inexperienced evaluators showed significantly higher scores for appearance than experienced evaluators. This result can improve surgical techniques in future procedures to meet the needs of patients seeking lip and nasolabial appearance corrections across different age groups.