Periconceptional health and lifestyle factors of both parents affect the risk of live-born children with orofacial clefts.
BACKGROUND
Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) or cleft palate only (CPO) are orofacial clefts and have a multifactorial etiology. The identification of amendable parental risk factors may contribute to a reduced occurrence of these malformations in the future.


METHODS
Standardized demographic and periconceptional exposure data from 284 parents of a child with CL/P, 66 parents of a child with a CPO and 222 parents of a child without congenital malformations were collected at approximately 24 months after the periconceptional period of the index child. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to estimate relative risks by odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).


RESULTS
Univariate results suggest that low parental education, periconceptional maternal medication use and illnesses, paternal smoking, and first-trimester maternal common cold increased CL/P risk. Pregnancy planning and periconceptional folic acid supplementation, however, reduced CL/P risk by approximately 50% (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.8) and 40% (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.9), respectively. Mostly comparable results were obtained for CPO. Being a boy (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.4-3.0), folic acid supplementation (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.9), and low paternal education (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0-2.3) mainly determined CL/P in the multivariate analyses, compared to low paternal (OR, 4.5; 95% CI, 2.1-9.4) and maternal medication use (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.0-4.0) for CPO.


CONCLUSIONS
Preconceptional counseling for orofacial cleft risk assessment should pay attention to maternal medication use, periconceptional folic acid supplementation, and exposures of the father. These determinants can be amended, thereby modifying orofacial cleft risk.
Krapels
Ingrid P C
IP
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Zielhuis
Gerhard A
GA
Vroom
Fokaline
F
de Jong-van den Berg
Lolkje T W
LT
Kuijpers-Jagtman
Anne-Marie
AM
van der Molen
Aebele B Mink
AB
Steegers-Theunissen
Régine P M
RP
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors
D005492:Folic Acid