Pilot Study of Speech and Ventilation Quality of Life After Cleft Palate Repair in Chinese Patients.

OBJECTIVE (S): This pilot study aimed to assess the quality of life (QoL) in Chinese patients with velopharyngeal competence (VPC) after primary cleft palate surgery or after secondary posterior pharyngeal flap (PPF) surgery. METHODS: A two-center cross-sectional study was conducted in two stomatological hospitals in China between December 2021 and December 2022. A total of 68 patients and healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study, categorized into the control group, the group of patients with VPC after primary cleft palate repair, and the group of patients with VPC after secondary PPF. The Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI) Effects on Life Outcomes (VELO) instrument and the Quebec Sleep Questionnaire (QSQ) were used for the assessment of speech-related QoL and ventilation-impairment-related QoL. RESULTS: Healthy subjects had better VELO total scores (speech-related QoL) than patients with VPC. Patients who reached VPC by secondary PPF surgery had better VELO scores in the domain of perception by others, compared with patients who reached VPC after the primary cleft palate surgery. Ventilation-impairment-related QoL assessment showed that patients who underwent secondary PPF surgery had worse QSQ total scores and domain scores than those who only had primary surgery. Surgical age only had a negative correlation with VELO scores of swallowing problems in patients who underwent PPF surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Despite achieving VPC after both primary and secondary surgery, patients could still exhibit worse speech-related QoL than healthy individuals. Among patients with VPC, patients who underwent secondary PPF could have worse ventilation-impairment-related QoL than those who only had primary cleft palate surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Laryngoscope, 135:2367-2374, 2025.