Factors influencing patient-reported quality of life in pretreatment orthognathic surgery patients

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between condition-specific quality of life (QoL) and occlusal/skeletal traits of pretreatment orthognathic surgery patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients referred for orthognathic surgery during the 2012-2014 period were asked to complete the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ) at consultation. Patient demographics, indices of treatment need, occlusal traits, and cephalometric variables were also recorded. Bivariate analyses were carried out between the OQLQ scores and the clinical measurements. Significant variables were added to a multivariate regression model to determine the effect of these predictive factors on OQLQ. RESULTS: One hundred and two patients were recruited. Initial analyses showed that gender and overjet were significantly associated with the overall OQLQ score. Being female increased the overall OQLQ score by 15.6 points when compared to males (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.4-23.8). Females also had significant associations in the social and awareness domains of the OQLQ. The magnitude of overjet away from normal values was associated with poorer overall QoL, with significant relationships in the esthetic and functional domains. The Index of Orthognathic Functional Treatment Need was significantly associated with the functional domain of OQLQ, with patients in category 5 scoring a mean of 10.0 points more than patients in category 4 (95% CI, 2.1-17.8). The Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need and other cephalometric variables were not associated with the OQLQ. CONCLUSIONS: Females are more aware of their facial deformity and report a greater social detriment when compared to males. Patients with a higher orthognathic treatment need report greater functional disadvantage