Oral Cleft and Maternal History of Spontaneous Abortion: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

To investigate and compare the occurrence of previous spontaneous abortion among mothers of children with nonsyndromic oral clefts (NSOC) and mothers of children without NSOC; to understand if previous spontaneous abortion could be a risk factor for the occurrence of NSOC in subsequent pregnancies. Case-control study. Nonsyndromic oral clefts is an important public health problem. In the context of investigating risk factors for the occurrence of this malformation, previous spontaneous abortion have been considered in the etiology at NSOC. There were 1004 participants. In the case group 502 mothers of children with NSOC, and in the control group 502 mothers of children without NSOC or any other malformation or syndrome. A standardized questionnaire was utilized to interview the maternal history of spontaneous abortion. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, and comparisons were performed using the Chi-square test, adopting a significance level of 5%. The prevalence of maternal history of spontaneous abortion was 16.3% in the case group and 15.9% in the control group. Comparing the groups there was no statistical difference (p-value = 0.93). Analyzing the occurrence of previous spontaneous abortion, separating the case group according to the type of cleft in the child, no statistical differences were observed when comparing these groups between them. Maternal history of spontaneous abortion was not associated with NSOC, not representing an independent risk factor for NSOC in the Brazilian population.