Motivation About Seeking Orthodontic Treatment Among Patients And Parents With Or Without Cleft Lip Palate (CLP And NON-CLP):A Study Based On Q Methodology

Objective: The aim of this study was to use Q methodology in examining the motivation of patients and parents towards undertaking orthodontic treatment and to find out the various motivating factors among cleft lip and\or palate(CLP)and non-cleft lip and\or palate(NON-CLP)children and parents concurrently.Method: The phases involved in Q methodology include: Concourse,Q sample,P-set,and Q-sort which are eventually followed by analysis of data.(1)During concourse,treatment-seeking motives for orthodontic treatment are gathered by interviewing patients(concourse 1)and parents(concourse 2)in both CLP and NON-CLP categories.(2)In Q sample,30 statements were generated from concourse 1(Q-set 1)whereas 36 statements were generated from concourse 2(Qset 2).These statements encompassed the different reasons for pursuing orthodontic care as produced by patients and parents in both CLP and NON-CLP categories from the concourse phase.(3)P-set involves the recruitment of participants.The sample comprised 40 CLP patients(G1)and 40 NON-CLP patients(G2)aged 9-16 years alongside 40 parents of CLP patients(G3)and 40 parents of NON-CLP patients(G4)who wanted their children to receive orthodontic treatment.(4)In Q-sort phase,the statements of 4 groups were ranked in order of comparative significance using an enforced distribution grid(G1,G2 ranked Q-set 1;G3,G4 ranked Q-set 2).The data was then(5)analyzed using the PQMehtod 2.35 vision.Results: We selected three factors in each group to represent the most widespread views in each category.The results obtained were as follows: G1:(1)aesthetic purposes,(2)preparation for other oral treatment,(3)well-timed;G2:(1)admire others,aesthetic purposes(2)oral function,(3)oral hygiene,improve smile.G3:(1)worry about the future of child,parental responsibility,feeling of child;(2)mental health,well-timed;(3)well-timed,parental responsibility prepare for treatment.G4:(1)aesthetic reasons,child’s will;(2)future problems,well-timed;(3)well-timed,parental responsibility with no physical issue to worry about.Conclusion: The motives by CLP and NON-CLP patients and parents for seeking orthodontic treatment are complex.These motives were identified and classified into three profiles respectively.The similarity between CLP and NON-CLP groups is greater than their difference.Patients and Parents in both the CLP and NON-CLP categories shared 3 global themes respectively as follows: aesthetic purposes,well-timed,prepare for other treatment in the patients group and parental responsibility,well-timed,aesthetic purposes in the parents group.When these motives are adequately considered,clinicians may be in a position to frame their treatment discussions with patients and parents.It will also go a long way in ensuring that patients,parents and clinicians cooperate well towards achieving a more satisfactory outcome of treatment.