title: Socio-Economic Status and Reproduction among Adults Born with an Oral Cleft: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Norway.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been reported that people born with orofacial clefts do worse in life than their peers regarding a range of social markers, such as academic achievement and reproduction. We have compared otherwise healthy individuals with and without clefts, to investigate if these differences are due to the cleft or other background factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a retrospective national cohort study, based on compulsory registers with data collected prospectively, we included everybody born in Norway between 1967 and 1992 (1490279 individuals, 2584 with clefts). This cohort was followed until the year 2010, when the youngest individuals were 18 years old. In order to ensure that the individuals were not affected by unknown syndromes or diseases, we excluded all individuals with any chronic medical condition, or who had other birth defects than clefts, hydroceles and dislocated hips. Individuals with oral clefts who were included in the study are said to have isolated clefts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Isolated cleft patients are similar to the general population regarding education, income and social class. Isolated cleft patients have lower fertility than the background population, but considering only married couples this difference in fertility disappeared.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An oral cleft did not appear to affect future socioeconomic status or chances of becoming a parent for children born in Norway. An exception was males with cleft lip and palate, but differences were small.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0261-5829
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.|Norwegian Quality Registry of Cleft Lip and Palate, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Åse
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Sivertsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Anja Maria Steinsland
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ariansen
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Quality Registry of Cleft Lip and Palate, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Rikshospitalet, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Filip
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.|Norwegian Quality Registry of Cleft Lip and Palate, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Halvard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Vindenes
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rare Disorders, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Feragen
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Pediatrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moster
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Rolv Terje
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Lie
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Pediatrics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Øystein A
authors.initials: ØA
authors.lastname: Haaland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D012098:Reproduction; D012923:Social Class; D055815:Young Adult