Do Orofacial Clefts Impair Breastfeeding and Increase the Prevalence of Anemia?

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to correlate the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia and breastfeeding with orofacial clefts in children. DESIGN: Data on the participant profile, presence and type of the cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P), and records on anemia and breastfeeding were collected from patients' charts, and submitted to statistical analysis by chi(2) test (p < .05; software SPSS 23.0). RESULTS: Two-hundred and ten files were divided according to: CL/P presence (cleft group; n = 132) or absence (control group; n = 78). Group CL/P was subdivided according to the type of cleft: CL/P-I (cleft lip; n = 35); CL/P-II (cleft lip and palate; n = 45); CL/P-III (cleft palate; n = 43); and CL/P-IV (rare orofacial clefts; n = 9). Group CL/P had significantly more records on anemia (p = .016) and fewer records on breastfeeding (P<.01) than controls. More records on anemia occurred in CL/P-II (p = .004) and CL/P-IV (p = .006) than the control group. The comparison among the orofacial cleft types regarding the anemia records showed no statistically significant differences (p = .123). Group CL/P-I had more records on breastfeeding than the other cleft types (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Thus, it is suggested that the breastfeeding process is more complex, and the history of anemia is more frequent, in children with cleft lip and palate or rare orofacial clefts than in children without clefts.