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Validation of the Unilateral Cleft Lip Severity Index for Surgeons and Laypersons

Campbell, Alex ; Restrepo, Carolina ; Deshpande, Gaurav ; Bernstein, Sarah M. ; Tredway, Caroline ; Wendby, Lisa and Schonmeyr, Bjorn (2017) In Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open 5(9).
Abstract

Background: Severity of the primary unilateral cleft lip/nose deformity (UCL/N) is postulated to play a key role in postoperative complications, aesthetic result, and need for secondary surgery. There is no validated and widely accepted classification scheme of initial cleft severity. The purpose of this study was to validate the Unilateral Cleft Lip Cleft Severity Index as a reliable tool for evaluating presurgical UCL/N deformity by both surgeons and laypersons. Methods: Twenty-five participants (10 surgeons and 15 laypeople) evaluated 25 sets of randomly selected presurgical standardized photographs of UCL/N patients. Each participant rated patients on a scale of 1-4 using the Cleft Severity Index. Interrater reliability for... (More)

Background: Severity of the primary unilateral cleft lip/nose deformity (UCL/N) is postulated to play a key role in postoperative complications, aesthetic result, and need for secondary surgery. There is no validated and widely accepted classification scheme of initial cleft severity. The purpose of this study was to validate the Unilateral Cleft Lip Cleft Severity Index as a reliable tool for evaluating presurgical UCL/N deformity by both surgeons and laypersons. Methods: Twenty-five participants (10 surgeons and 15 laypeople) evaluated 25 sets of randomly selected presurgical standardized photographs of UCL/N patients. Each participant rated patients on a scale of 1-4 using the Cleft Severity Index. Interrater reliability for surgeons, laypersons, and all participants was determined using an intraclass correlation coefficient. Histograms and regression analysis were performed to compare average ratings between groups. Results: Interrater reliability for all groups was classified as "very good" determined by intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.837 (laymen), 0.885 (surgeons), and 0.848 (all participants). These results indicate that there was a high degree of interrater across all 3 groups and that both surgeons and laypersons can reliability rate cleft severity using the Cleft Severity Index. Conclusions: This study validates the use of the Cleft Severity Index by both surgeons and laypersons as a reliable tool for evaluating the degree of presurgical severity of patients with UCL/N. The Unilateral Cleft Lip Cleft Severity Index can thus serve as a reproducible and reliable grading system for primary UCL/N deformity and to categorize patients for future outcomes studies.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open
volume
5
issue
9
article number
e1479
publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
external identifiers
  • scopus:85032448354
  • pmid:29062648
ISSN
2169-7574
DOI
10.1097/GOX.0000000000001479
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
13756acb-4cb1-427a-b49d-0c3c4605efa4
date added to LUP
2017-11-20 14:18:58
date last changed
2024-02-13 11:17:16
@article{13756acb-4cb1-427a-b49d-0c3c4605efa4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Severity of the primary unilateral cleft lip/nose deformity (UCL/N) is postulated to play a key role in postoperative complications, aesthetic result, and need for secondary surgery. There is no validated and widely accepted classification scheme of initial cleft severity. The purpose of this study was to validate the Unilateral Cleft Lip Cleft Severity Index as a reliable tool for evaluating presurgical UCL/N deformity by both surgeons and laypersons. Methods: Twenty-five participants (10 surgeons and 15 laypeople) evaluated 25 sets of randomly selected presurgical standardized photographs of UCL/N patients. Each participant rated patients on a scale of 1-4 using the Cleft Severity Index. Interrater reliability for surgeons, laypersons, and all participants was determined using an intraclass correlation coefficient. Histograms and regression analysis were performed to compare average ratings between groups. Results: Interrater reliability for all groups was classified as "very good" determined by intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.837 (laymen), 0.885 (surgeons), and 0.848 (all participants). These results indicate that there was a high degree of interrater across all 3 groups and that both surgeons and laypersons can reliability rate cleft severity using the Cleft Severity Index. Conclusions: This study validates the use of the Cleft Severity Index by both surgeons and laypersons as a reliable tool for evaluating the degree of presurgical severity of patients with UCL/N. The Unilateral Cleft Lip Cleft Severity Index can thus serve as a reproducible and reliable grading system for primary UCL/N deformity and to categorize patients for future outcomes studies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Campbell, Alex and Restrepo, Carolina and Deshpande, Gaurav and Bernstein, Sarah M. and Tredway, Caroline and Wendby, Lisa and Schonmeyr, Bjorn}},
  issn         = {{2169-7574}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{9}},
  publisher    = {{Lippincott Williams & Wilkins}},
  series       = {{Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open}},
  title        = {{Validation of the Unilateral Cleft Lip Severity Index for Surgeons and Laypersons}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000001479}},
  doi          = {{10.1097/GOX.0000000000001479}},
  volume       = {{5}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}