Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients After Surgically Treated Midface Fracture: A Comparison with the Croatian Population Norm

AIM: To evaluate the health-related life quality of patients after surgically treated midface fractures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study compared the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scores of 42 male patients following surgically treated maxillary or zygomatic fractures with the reported normative data of the SF-36 for the Croatian population. RESULTS: The current study showed that the health-related life quality of surgically treated patients was comparable to similar age, gender, and regional demographics in the Croatian population norm. However, we revealed a significant deterioration of the “Emotional wellbeing” domain in younger patients (P = 0.03) and a severely affected domain of “Physical functioning” in older patients (P = 0.049). CONCLUSION: There was a significant negative psychological impact from facial trauma on younger patients. In contrast, older patients were more prone to physical impairment. Therefore, follow-up visits are an opportunity to screen and refer younger patients to mental health services in a timely manner to prevent severe psychological difficulties and an opportunity to identify older patients who require physical therapy.