Psychological Wellbeing and Quality Of Life in Children Who Underwent Maxillofacial Surgery by Foreign Missions in Gaza: A Pilot Descriptive Study

Background Facial deformities hinder the social development of children1. Pediatric maxillofacial surgeries in Gaza are largely done by foreign surgical missions. While functional and clinical outcomes could be measured in follow-up appointments, the children’s quality of life and psychosocial wellbeing are rather neglected. To our knowledge, the children’s quality of life and psychological wellbeing has never been reported in Gaza. This study aims to describe the impact on quality of life and psychological wellbeing of maxillofacial surgeries done to children by visiting foreign medical missions. Methods We selected school-aged children who underwent maxillofacial surgeries by foreign missions at Al Shifa Hospital. Patients completed the Arabic versions of the Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale, Mood and Feeling Questionnaire2, Intergroup anxiety and Cross-Group Friendship scales. We followed up patients after three and six months. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Findings Quantitative The study included 20 children, evenly divided in gender and with mean age of 11.2 ±3.5 years. 18 and 17 of whom were seen three and six months postop, respectively. The general MSLSS mean at screening was 135.9, which had decreased to 134.7 at three months and significantly to 119.3 at six months. Table 1 shows means and standard deviation for sections of the MSLSS. All sections of the MSLSS remained almost the same, except the school and surrounding environments sections, which had significantly decreased at 6 months. At screening, the mean of the MFQ parents score was about 4 points higher than the child’s. This decreased to about 2 points at three months and to about 1.5 point at six months. Qualitative Several themes have emerged from the interviews conducted. Two main positive themes were a) families became less over-protective of the children, and b) Children became more physically capable of performing daily and other activities. These themes were shared by the ch