Prevalence, trend, and associated risk factors for cleft lip with/without cleft palate: a national study on live births from 2016 to 2021

Backgrounds Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is the most common congenital craniofacial anomaly, including non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate and cleft palate only. Failure in the fusion of median and lateral nasal processes, the maxillary prominence, and soft tissues around the oral cavity can cause CL/P. Previously, the prevalence has been estimated to be 1 among every 1000 births in 2014 among American neonates and no other reports have been available since. Thus, this study aimed to calculate the prevalence and trend of isolated CL/P among American live births from 2016 to 2021 with its associated risk factors. Methods and materials In this cross-sectional population-based retrospective study, we used live birth data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We calculated the prevalence per 10,000 live births of isolated (non-syndromic) CL/P from 2016 to 2021. To examine risk factors for developing isolated CL/P, we used logistic regression modelling. Results The total prevalence per 10,000 births from 2016 to 2021 was 4.88 (4.79–4.97), for both sexes, and 5.96 (5.82–6.10) for males, and 3.75 (3.64–3.87) for females. The prevalence did not show any consistent linear decreasing or increasing pattern. We found significant association between increased odds of developing isolated CL/P among cases with 20 to 24 year-old mothers (OR = 1.07, 1.01–1.13, p = 0.013 ), mothers who smoked 11 to 20 cigarettes per day (OR = 1.46, 1.33–1.60, p < 0.001 ), mothers with extreme obesity (OR = 1.32, 1.21–1.43, p < 0.001 ), mothers with grade II obesity (OR = 1.32, 1.23–1.42, p < 0.001 ), mothers with pre-pregnancy hypertension (OR = 1.17, 1.04–1.31, p = 0.009 ), mothers with pre-pregnancy diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.96, 1.71–2.25, p < 0.001 ), and mothers who used assisted reproductive technology (OR = 1.40, 1.18–1.66, p < 0.001 ). Conclusions Our findings suggest a minuscule increase, albeit insignificant, in the trend of CL/P prevalence from 2016 to 2021. Developing CL/P had greater odds among mothers with pre-pregnancy diabetes, smoking, obesity, and pre-pregnancy hypertension mothers along with mothers who used assisted reproductive technology. Isolated CL/P had the highest prevalence in non-Hispanic Whites, American Indian or Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders.