School performance for children with cleft lip and palate: a population-based study.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Developmental Pediatrics
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Educational attainment significantly influences life trajectories for young individuals.
• Orofacial clefts (OFC) are congenital conditions that may impact development.
• Understanding the relationship between OFC and academic performance is crucial for targeted support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between orofacial clefts and school performance in children.
• To compare academic outcomes in children with different types of OFC (cleft lip only, cleft lip and palate, cleft palate only) versus controls.

Main Methods:

• A population-based cohort study utilizing record-linked datasets in Western Australia (1980-2010).
• Inclusion of children with OFC from the Register of Developmental Anomalies and a control group of children without OFC.
• Comparison of odds ratios for meeting national minimum academic standards across five domains (reading, numeracy, writing, spelling, grammar).

Main Results:

• Children with cleft palate only (CPO) showed significantly lower odds of meeting minimum standards in reading, grammar, and numeracy.
• Children with cleft lip and palate (CL+P) had lower odds of meeting the spelling standard.
• Children with cleft lip only (CLO) demonstrated similar academic performance to controls.

Conclusions:

• Children born with OFC, particularly CPO, are at higher risk for academic difficulties.
• Early identification of learning challenges in these children is essential.
• Intervention strategies should be implemented to support the educational attainment of children with OFC.