Cleft and COVID-19 Pandemic: Controversial Aspects of Social Distancing

Abstract

In the meantime, as COVID-19 has gone pandemic, social distancing has become inevitable; therefore, most in-person visits have been canceled to minimize the spread of the disease. This will greatly impact cleft palate patients as it will limit their chance to receive timely care and have persistent follow-up, and that could in turn delay its management so significantly that it could cause much more considerable complications. To mitigate the issue, it seems necessary to start integrating modern-day technologies into the everyday practice of physicians and to benefit from the opportunities it provides. Much of medical decision making is cognitive, and telemedicine can provide easy access to specialists who are not immediately available. With wide internet access, this task is more than feasible. Telemedicine and other modern facilities are very promising platforms that could fill the gap that has been made by social distancing. We tried to address some of these issues as well as give recommendations for possible solutions to each of them.

Parental Satisfaction from Telemedicine in the Follow-up of Children Operated for Craniosynostosis during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Craniofacial care takes place at highly specialized institutions and is delivered through the collaborative multidisciplinary work of health care providers who closely cooperate in deploying concrete and time-sensitive therapeutic strategies. 7 Telemedicine has already been successfully implemented in the provision of pediatric craniofacial care, particularly of cleft lip and palate care, but in the literature, very little information is available regarding the perception and satisfaction level of patients and their parents. 8 A study by James reported the satisfaction of health care workers and parents of the children with craniosynostosis and craniofacial deformities in establishing a pediatric neurosurgery telemedicine clinic, providing service across a geographically and socially deprived area in the USA.…”

COVID-19 Pandemic Associated With Increased Self-reported Depressive Symptoms in Patients With Congenital Craniofacial Diagnoses

“… 28 – 30 PROMIS measures are widely used in pediatric care, including with craniofacial populations. 8 , 9 , 24 Questions are rated on a 5-point Likert scale and based on a 7-day recall period. Raw scores for each assessment were converted to standardized T-scores based on national norms with a mean score of 50 and a SD of 10.…”

“… 22 In the context of patients with chronic medical conditions, an additional parameter exacerbated by the pandemic is the lack of access to medical care. 23 , 24 These changes as a result of the pandemic may have both positive and negative effects on patients with craniofacial diagnoses. Changes in typical social interactions during the pandemic may increase isolation, yet decrease negative peer interactions.…”

The relationship between cleft palate repair technique and audiological outcomes: A retrospective cohort study

“…Orofacial cleft is the most prevalent congenital abnormality, occurring in ~1.6 per 1000 live births 1,2 . This condition presents a myriad of challenges to the affected individuals, ranging from aesthetic concerns to impediments in speech, eating, hearing, and social interactions 3 .…”

“…Orofacial cleft is the most prevalent congenital abnormality, occurring in $1.6 per 1000 live births. 1,2 This condition presents a myriad of challenges to the affected individuals, ranging from aesthetic concerns to impediments in speech, eating, hearing, and social interactions. 3 One of the frequent complications, otitis media with effusion (OME), stands as the leading cause of conductive hearing loss in children with clefts.…”