Factors affecting the self-perception of children with fitted lips and palate. Review article self-perception of children with LPF

Abstract

Objective: To know the factors that affect the self-perception of children with cleft lip and palate by means of a bibliographic review. Material and Methods: A bibliographic review was carried out, taking as reference 2195 scientific articles from: Pubmed, Scielo, Latindex and Google Scholar. We found 85 duplicate articles, 45 articles met the inclusion criteria, they were articles with scientific relevance in English and Spanish with a time interval of 10 years. Our research questions were: What are the factors that most affect children with this condition emotionally? and What would be the best alternatives for the adequate treatment of these patients? Results: They presented to a greater extent a communication problem in two subscales: social environment and proactive behaviors. An increase in social avoidance was observed among the adult group. The female sex is more affected compared to the male sex being facial appearance and speech the major concerns accompanied with social introversion, besides that a high number of patients have experienced bullying. Conclusion: It was found that children with cleft lip and palate have a high probability of developing socio-emotional alterations during early childhood. The factors that most affect patients with cleft lip and palate emotionally are the notable facial differences, problems in phonation and feeding, negative comments regarding their physical appearance and psychological trauma due to multiple surgeries, while an adequate treatment should include psychological management and speech therapy since these are fundamental pillars for an integral treatment being equally important as surgery.