A systematic review of the quality of life of carers of children with cleft lip and/or plate

Caring for an infant or child requires a significant amount of time, energy and resources; this burden is further increased when the infant or child has a chronic condition or disability. Prior research has demonstrated that caregiving for a child with special needs impacts upon parents or carers mental health, well-being and quality of life. This article systematically reviews the literature pertaining to the impact of caring for a child with cleft lip and /or palate upon parental quality of life. A search of four databases was conducted with a number of key terms; the titles, abstracts and finally the whole article were read and assessed for relevance. Only articles written in English were included in the review. The results yielded four relevant articles; that displayed inconsistent results. The results of these articles are reviewed. It was evident that the construct of quality of life was narrowly operationalised in all four articles either being assessed as health-related quality of life or as the impact upon the family. Further all four studies emanated from the same country. The limitations are discussed with recommendations made for future research endeavours.