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Hospitalisations up to adulthood for children born with orofacial clefts

Jane Bell1, Natasha Nassar2, Robin Turner3

  • 1Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
|November 27, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Children born with orofacial clefts (OFC) experience significantly higher hospital admission rates and longer stays throughout childhood compared to peers without OFC. Specific cleft types, like cleft lip and palate (CL+P) and cleft palate only (CPO), present a greater hospitalization burden.

Area of Science:

  • Medical research
  • Pediatric health
  • Public health

Background:

  • Orofacial clefts (OFC) are common congenital conditions.
  • Understanding the long-term healthcare utilization of individuals with OFC is crucial for resource allocation and patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare hospital admission patterns from infancy to adulthood between children with and without orofacial clefts (OFC).
  • To analyze the reasons for hospital admissions and the cumulative length of stay across different age periods and OFC types.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort study utilizing record-linked administrative datasets in Western Australia (WA) from 1980-2010.
  • Inclusion of all liveborn children diagnosed with OFC, frequency-matched with children without OFC.
  • Calculation of rate ratios (RR) for hospital admissions, number, reason, and cumulative length of stay, stratified by OFC type (CLO, CL+P, CPO) and age period.

Main Results:

  • Individuals with OFC were up to three times more likely to be hospitalized, with more admissions and longer stays across all age groups.
  • Higher likelihood of admissions for ear (RR up to 30) and digestive conditions (RR up to 6) in children with OFC.
  • Children with CL+P and CPO showed increased admissions for respiratory conditions (RR 1.3-2.0), and CPO was associated with higher admissions for other congenital anomalies (RR 6).

Conclusions:

  • Individuals born with OFC experience a substantially higher hospital admission rate and burden throughout childhood compared to those without OFC.
  • Cleft lip and palate (CL+P) and cleft palate only (CPO) are associated with a greater hospitalization burden than cleft lip only (CLO).
Abstract

Keywords:
Western Australiacleft lipcleft palatehospitalisationsmedical record linkage

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