Correlation of maternal age to their children born with orofacial cleft treated at Wits Oral Health Centre
Date
2024
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Abstract
Objectives: Orofacial Clefts (OFC) are the most common congenital malformations of the craniofacial complex. OFC affects 1/700 live births globally with extensive variability across geographic origin, racial and ethnic populations. In South Africa the prevalence of OFC is 0.3 per 1000 live births. Advanced maternal age has been associated with cell division errors, that can predispose to the occurrence of OFC. This study evaluated the correlation of advanced maternal age with the occurrence of OFC and the types of OFC.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to review records of 105 children with OFC from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2019. The clinical information reviewed included the child’s sex, race and type and laterality of OFC. The mother’s demographic information including the age at birth to the child with OFC, race, marital status, education level, number of children that the mother gave birth to as well as the familial history of OFC was documented. Stata version 17.0 was used to analyse the data and statistical tests were conducted at a 5% significance level.
Results: The mean maternal age at the birth of a child with OFC was 26 years, with a range of 17-46 years. The majority of the mothers were Black (64.76%) followed by White (14.29%), Indian (11.43%) and Coloured (9.52%). There were more female children with OFC (51.43%) compared to male children (48.57%). Most of the children were Black (63.81%) followed by White (12.38%), Indian (11.43%) and Coloured (10.48%). The predominant type of OFC was the unilateral cleft lip and palate (CLP) occurring on the left side of the face (39.05%) compared to the right side (23.81%). Bilateral CLP was observed in 28.67% of children, and 0.57% of children had a cleft palate only. Mothers who gave birth to children with right CLP were older (over 30 years old) compared to those who gave birth to children with left CLP (under 25 years old). No statistical significance was found between maternal age and OFC.
Conclusions- The clinical appearance of OFC highlighted the maternal age differences to type of OFC in our study sample. Children with right CLP were born to older mothers whilst the youngest mothers had children with CP. The majority of the mothers were unemployed, single parents with low level of education. This signified the burden of care these single parents have in caring for their children with OFC.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, School of Oral Health Sciences, Johannesburg, 2023
Keywords
Orofacial cleft, Congenital malformations, Craniofacial, Children