Birth order and oral clefts: a meta analysis

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Alexandre R Vieira1, Iêda M Orioli

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. alexandre-vieira@uiowa.edu

Teratology
|October 25, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Children born later in the family have an increased risk of orofacial clefts, including cleft lip/palate (CL/P and CP). This risk significantly rises with higher birth order.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Genetics and Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Late birth order is linked to some complex disorders.
  • The association between birth order and orofacial clefts lacks consensus.
  • A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate this association.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if higher birth order increases the risk of oral clefts.
  • To analyze existing data on birth order and cleft lip/palate (CL/P) and cleft palate (CP).

Main Methods:

  • Meta-analysis of published data on CL/P and CP cases.
  • Inclusion of live birth frequency and cases by birth order (1, 2, 3, 4+).
  • Birth order '1' set as the baseline risk (OR = 1.0).

Main Results:

  • Higher birth order is associated with increased CL/P and CP risk.
  • Odds ratios for oral clefts escalate with birth order.
  • Peak odds ratio of 3.0 observed for birth order '4 or more'.

Conclusions:

  • Oral cleft occurrence, including CL/P and CP, correlates with increasing birth order.
  • Further research is needed to confirm the association.
  • Future studies should consider factors like socioeconomic status, race, and parental age.
Abstract

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