Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity using GHQ-28 among cleft lip patients in Sokoto

BACKGROUND: In the management of cleft lip, attention is usually focused on physical deformity and functional anomaly. Previous studies on psychiatric morbidity challenged this position. However, most of these studies were from western society. Few studies have reported on the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among adult Nigerian patients with cleft lip. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 200 patients with cleft lip, who were between the age of 20 and 39 years, were assessed using standardized semistructured psychiatric instrument. Additionally, 100 healthy subjects matched for gender and educational attainment served as control. A questionnaire related to sociodemographic variables was designed and administered to the two groups. GHQ-28 was used to assess for the presence of psychiatric morbidity. Graphpad instat was used for data analysis. RESULT: More than a quarter of the patients have psychiatric morbidity which was greater than the control (P<0.001). Sociodemographic attributes associated with high psychiatric morbidity include male gender (P=0.0018), widowhood (P<0.0001), age group 30--34 years (P<0.0001), and being unemployed (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: In addition to reconstructive surgery, psychiatric evaluation and intervention would be of benefit in the management of cleft lip patients.