The effect of South Asian ethnicity on satisfaction with primary cleft lip and or palate repair

Objective: To evaluate the effect of South Asian ethnicity on satisfaction with cleft lip and or palate repair, post-primary repair. Participants: All data were gathered from patients attending the adult cleft service in the West Midlands. Subjects had unilateral or bilateral cleft lip with, or without, palatal involvement. Patients were aged between 16 and 65. Clefts were non-syndromic. 15 South Asian and 95 Caucasian subjects were compared. Main outcome measures: Satisfaction with cleft repair was assessed using the Satisfaction with Appearance scale (SWA), which is a scale of 0-100. Data gathered were analysed using multiple linear regression with ethnicity, age, gender, cleft type and deprivation score as independent variables. Results: South Asians were found to be less satisfied with many aspects of their cleft surgery. Satisfaction with nose and speech were found to be significantly less in the South Asian group compared with the Caucasian group (mean difference >20, p < 0.01). Multiple linear regression showed that ethnicity was still significant when adjusted for age, gender, cleft type and deprivation score. Conclusions: This study found significant differences in levels of satisfaction between South Asian and Caucasian groups, despite a small sample size. These findings highlight the need for further clinically orientated research in this field. (C) 2010 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.