The Cleft Deformity in Bangladesh: a Descriptive Summary

The cleft lip and palate population in Bangladesh has yet to be formally described. Our team conducted a survey of patients and their family members with cleft deformities with the goals to: 1. Describe patient demographics and the nature of the deformity; 2. Explore the ingenious populations’ beliefs on the origin of the cleft deformity; 3. Predict the anticipated social changes that would occur after cleft repair. A survey was performed by a surgical team member pre and post cleft repair on two separate surgical missions. A total of 91 surveys were collected. The age of our population ranged from 6 months to 60 years, with a mean of 10.3 years. 61% of our population had isolated cleft lip deformities, 10% had isolated cleft palate, and 29% had both cleft lip and palate. 27% of patients and families with cleft deformities believed their cleft occurred due to a solar or lunar eclipse. Another 21% believed it was caused by God’s punishment for wrongdoings. 41% of school aged children reported avoiding school due to significant bullying centered on their cleft.  20% reported being rejected by their village and 10% being rejected by their family. After surgical repair, all patients were satisfied with the outcome. They anticipated being welcomed back into their family, village, and school.

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