title: Prevalence of cleft uvula among school children in kindergarten through grade five.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of bifid uvula among elementary school children in grades K through 5. Three examiners performed independent intraoral examinations of 709 children enrolled in a Jacksonville, Florida metropolitan public school. The structure of the uvula was evaluated as normal or bifid. If bifid, the cleft was classified as: (a) notched, (b) extending up to 1/4 the length of the uvula, (c) extending from 1/4 to 3/4 of the length of the uvula, or (d) extending the full length of the uvula. Prevalence of some form of uvular cleft was observed among 16 (2.26%) of the children while full length uvular cleft was found in only two (0.3%) of the children. These findings are congruent with percentages reported in other studies. It is recommended that speech-language pathologists identify children with bifid uvulas and provide appropriate counseling and follow-up study.
authors.affiliation: Jacksonville University, Florida.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wharton
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Mowrer
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D015995:Prevalence; D014609:Uvula / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American