Psychiatric evaluation of youth with cleft lip-palate matched with a control group

Ten subjects were randomly selected from each of four pools of patients (male CPO, male CLP, female CPO and CLP) age six to 18 years regularly followed by a cleft palate clinic. Forty controls from a family practice clinic were matched for age, sex, and socio-economic status. Congenital second anomalies were present in 13 cleft children, five of whom were male CPO. Significant hearing loss was found in 11 cleft children and speech articulation problems in about 50 per cent of the sample. Both cleft and control groups were interviewed by a child psychiatrist, and mothers completed a behavior rating check list. There were no significant differences in the number of subjects from both groups having psychiatric diagnoses or conflicts. Mother's ratings indicated that cleft group had significantly more subjects with excessive dependency problems while control group had significantly more subjects having problems with resenting correction, talking negatively about self, and projecting blame to others. Significantly more male CPO and female CLP patients had psychiatric diagnoses, particularly mental retardation and developmental deviations, when compared to male CLP and female CPO groups. Cleft children with articulation problems were more likely to have psychiatric diagnoses and conflicts.