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. 2021 Apr 6;11(1):7556.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-87229-4.

Epidemiologic trends of infants with orofacial clefts in a multiethnic country: a retrospective population-based study

Mimi Yow  1   2 , Aizhen Jin  3 , George Seow Heong Yeo  4
Affiliations

Epidemiologic trends of infants with orofacial clefts in a multiethnic country: a retrospective population-based study

Mimi Yow et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Cleft births surveillance is essential in healthcare and prevention planning. Data are needed in precision medicine to target upstream management for at-risk individuals. This study characterizes Singapore's population-based orofacial cleft topography by ethnicity and gender, and establishes the cleft cohort's infant mortality rate. Data, in the decade 2003 to 2012, were extracted by the National Birth Defects Registry. Trend testing by linear regression was at p < 0.05 significance level. Prevalence per 10,000 for population-based cleft live births was 16.72 with no significant upward trend (p = 0.317). Prevalence rates were 8.77 in the isolated cleft group, 7.04 in the non-isolated cleft group, and 0.91 in the syndromic cleft group. There was significant upward trend in infants with non-isolated clefts (p = 0.0287). There were no significant upward trends in infants with isolated clefts and syndromic clefts. Prevalence rates were sexually dimorphic and ethnic-specific: male 17.72; female 15.78; Chinese group 17.17; Malay group 16.92; Indian group 10.74; and mixed ethnic origins group 21.73. The overall infant mortality rate (IMR) was 4.8% in the cohort of 608 cleft births, which was more than double the population-based IMR of 2.1% in the same period. Infants with non-isolated and syndromic clefts accounted for 96.6% of the deaths.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Population-based live cleft births by ethnic groups. Chinese group 17.17 per 10,000. Upward trend is not significant (p = 0.692). Malay group 16.92 per 10,000. Upward trend is significant (p = 0.008). Indian group 10.74 per 10,000. Upward trend is not significant (p = 0.724). Mixed ethnic origins group 21.73 per 10,000. Upward trend is not significant (p = 0.606).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of population-based live cleft births by year. Overall prevalence is 16.72 per 10,000. Upward trend is not significant (p = 0.317).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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