Impact of Facial Palsy on Work Productivity

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the impact of facial palsy (FP) on patient‐reported work productivity. Methods Adult FP patients with completed survey responses collected between 2023 and 2024 were included. Retrospective chart review was conducted to obtain patient demographics and FP characteristics. Results A total of 60 patients were included with a mean age of 51.3 years (range 28–84 years), 73.3% female gender ( n = 44), mean Sunnybrook score 63.4 (range 9–97), and mean duration of FP 89.9 months (range 3–701). A total of 40% of patients missed work the week prior to survey completion due to FP. Four (6.7%) patients quit or changed careers due to FP. Females were more likely to miss work than males ( p ‐value 0.035). Patients with facial palsy duration < 60 months were more likely to miss work ( p ‐value 0.021) and missed more work on average at 2.9 h/week ( p ‐value 0.039). On linear regression adjusted for covariates, total SB score ( p ‐value 0.044) and Synkinesis Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) ( p ‐value 0.001) were significant predictors of the effect of facial palsy on the ability to do regular daily activities. Logistic regression analysis to predict the likelihood of missing ≥ 1 h of work over the past week due to facial palsy: older age (OR 1.1; p ‐value 0.021), female gender (OR 9.7; p ‐value 0.019) and higher SAQ (1.1; 0.042) were significant predictors (overall model p ‐value 0.003). Conclusion Patients do experience work productivity loss as a result of facial palsy. Female gender and higher SAQ scores increase the likelihood of work productivity loss from FP. Level of Evidence 4