The Prevalence of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate and Related Risk Factors among Iranian Children from 2000 to 2016: a Literature Review

Background Cleft lip and cleft palate (also, known as or facial clefts), are amongst the most common congenital deformities affecting the jaw and face as well as the most common defects associated with lip and palate. Thus, the current study was an attempt to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of or facial clefts in Iranian children. Materials and Methods The present study, was conducted through a systematic search for articles recorded in the internal database (SID, IranMedex and Magiran), and external authoritative databases (Google scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE) using the keywords including "cleft lip", "Irani@n", "cleft palate", and "children" from 2000 to 2016. Then, 61 articles were collected. 47 studies with associated incidence or prevalence of cleft lip and cleft palate were included. Results According to the findings of the review of the studies conducted in Iran, it is revealed that the prevalence of cleft lip and cleft palate was from 0.78 to 2.14 in Iranian children. It was revealed that several factors contributing to the development of this disorder consist of Family history ( P 0.001), Antibiotics, ( P 0.001), Stress in the first trimester of pregnancy (P=0.048), BMI before pregnancy (P=0.036) Seasonal factors (P= 0.03), and Consanguineous marriage (P=0.02). Conclusion According to the results of the present study, the prevalence of cleft lip and cleft palate is high in Iran in comparison with international studies. Furthermore, the prevalence of this disorder is reported to be higher in males than females. Therefore, it is recommended arrange the practical programs in order to help parents eliminate or diminish the factors that affect the prevalence of this disorder and complications.