Influence of Ethnicity on the Incidence Rate of Oral Clefts in Northern Iran

Objective: Oral clefting including cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P), are considered as common congenital anomalies, particularly in Asia population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence rate of CL/P according to ethnicity in Northern Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, analytic study was carried out on 92 420 live newborns in Golestan province, the Northern Iran, from 2008-2011. The newborns were evaluated for the CL/P and recorded according to ICD10. Gender, ethnicity and parental consanguinity were filled out for each subject. The subjects grouped according to ethnicity into native Fars, Turkmen, and Sistani groups. Results: The rate of oral clefts was determined 0.72 per 1000 live newborns. The incidence rate of CL/P was 0.69 per 1000 in males and 0.75 per 1000 in females. The incidence of CL/P among native Fars, Turkmen and Sistani was 0.96, 0.61, and 0.57 per 1000 live births, respectively. Conclusion: The incidence rate of oral clefting was lower than in our previous study (1.05 per 1000), and it was higher in the native Fars population.