The Relationship between The Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Peripheral Facial Paralysis Patients and The Physiotherapy Program

Objective: What are factors for patients diagnosed with peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) to apply to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) clinic. The aim of this study was to examine the demographic characteristics, stage at presentation, recovery rates and physiotherapy program, if any, of patients diagnosed with PFP). Methods: Our study was obtained using the medical records of patients admitted to clinic for PFP from January 2017 to October 2022. Results: A total of 833 patients with PFP were included in the study. Four hundred eleven (49.3%) were female and 422 were male, and the mean age of the patients was 43.33. One hundred ninety nine (23,9%) patients with a diagnosis of PFP applied to PMR clinic and a physiotherapy program was used to 92 (11%) patients. There was a difference in terms of comorbid diseases and it was more common in women (p:0,004); FP recurrence was more frequent in female patients (p:0,025). There was a significant correlation between admission to the PMR clinic and having left-sided PFP (p:0.012). There was a positive significant correlation between admission to the PMR clinic and HB stage (p:0.000) Conclusions: Ours is the first study which investigated percentage of apply to PMR clinic patients who applied to otolaryngology outpatient clinic diagnesed PFP. We found that patients with PFP on the left side and with high HB stage were more likely to refer to the PMR clinic.