Measurement of quality of life in orthognathic surgery using an original questionnaire: About a series of 123 cases

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to measure changes in the quality of life of patients who had orthognathic surgery using an original questionnaire, designed for this purpose. Material and method: This single-center retrospective study included all patients who had orthognathic surgery in our center between 2014 and 2019. An original questionnaire comprising 13 items in 4 domains was sent to patients postoperatively by email after telephone contact and obtaining their consent. Items were scored on a 5-point scale ranging from (−1), worse than before surgery, to (+3), better than before surgery. Results: All data were collected in a standardized way. In total, 123 patients responded. The mean score for all surgeries combined was +1.14, indicating an improvement in QOL considered to be “low to moderate”. A total of 118 patients (95.9%) reported an improvement following surgery, including 18 patients (14.6%) who reported a marked improvement. The greatest improvement was observed for psychosocial aspects and morphology. Conclusion: This study shows a positive effect of orthognathic surgery on patients’ QOL, including self-perception, relationships with others, or functional aspects as mastication and breathing. We propose an original tool that is easy to use by patients to measure quality of life following orthognathic surgery.