Objective: To explore what cleft patients remember/recall from their treatment.
Method: This qualitative study used semi-structured in-depth interviews with 20 cleft patients (age range 16-28) who recently finished their orthodontic/orthognathic treatment. The cleft lip and/or palate participants were recruited from two cleft centres in UK. All interviews followed the same topic guide. This study used a purposive sampling strategy. The interviews were held in a non clinical setting according to participant`s preference either in a vacant room at Centre or at the patient`s home. All interviews were recorded with a voice recorder and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was conducted using a thematic framework method developed through the analysis process of transcribed interviews.
Result: Patients do not recall or remember aspects of care related to the surgeries in infancy but they incorporate it in their account based on what they were told by parents. Memory increased with age where they could have a wider but vague memories of procedures around bone grafting. Finally they gave an accurate accounts from their recent orthodontic or orthognathic treatment; they could remember its impact clearly and in some instances could recall the date of the surgery.
Identification of recall is not reported elsewhere in cleft patient and was clearly identified in this study.
Conclusion: The data suggests that patients remember accurately the most recent treatment and this recall develops with time.