A comparison of health-related quality of life between Jordanian and British orthognathic patients

The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult Jordanian patients referred for orthognathic treatment, and to compare this with previously published data from a British cohort. Thirty-eight Jordanians (21 females and 17 males; aged 16-31 years) who were about to commence a course of orthognathic treatment completed a generic HRQoL questionnaire [Short-Form 36 (SF-36)] and a condition-specific orthognathic quality-of-life questionnaire (OQoLQ). The questionnaires were completed prior to commencing any pre-surgical orthodontic treatment. The data were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test for independent groups with non-normally distributed data. There were no statistically significant differences between the Jordanian males and females for any of the OQoLQ or SF-36 items; hence, the groups were combined for analysis. When comparing the OQoL data with that of the British sample, there was no statistically significant differences for three of the four domains: dentofacial aesthetics (P = 0.726), social aspects (P = 0.096), or the awareness of dentofacial aesthetics (P = 0.066). There was, however, a significant difference for oral function (P = 0.016), with the Jordanian group reporting a poorer quality of life (QoL) (mean value 10.9) than the British cohort (mean value 8.4). However, it is questionable whether this difference would be of clinical relevance. While it was not possible to directly compare the results of the SF-36 questionnaires with the same British cohort, Jordanian patients had generally lower scores, and therefore a poorer QoL, than reported in other studies. These differences may be cultural or may be due to differences in the health care system's criteria for funding, and this needs further investigation.