A comparative Study on the Knowledge of Cleft Lip and Palate among Antenatal attendees in urban and Sub-urban Health Facilities in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Several countries have reported a low level of awareness and knowledge of cleft lip and palate (CLP) in their populations. Little is known about the level of awareness and knowledge of CLP in Nigeria among antenatal attendees.
Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate and compare the awareness and knowledge of oro-facial cleft among antenatal attendees at sub-urban and rural health facilities in Lagos state.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken on pregnant women attending the antenatal clinics in two sub-urban and two urban health facilities in Lagos state. Data was obtained by interviewer administered questionnaire. Information requested in the questionnaire include biodata, awareness using images of orofacial cleft and knowledge was also assessed among the respondents.
Results: Atotal of 424 respondents participated in this study (one hundred and ninety seven respondents from rural facilities and 227 from Sub-urban facilities). Forty eight percent had tertiary education, while only 1.7% had received no form of formal education. Thirty percent were Professionals/ large scale business owners and 7.5% were petty traders/laborers. Of all the respondents 77.8% had not
heard of cleft lip and 85.6% of cleft palate. A total of 61.7% and 54.1% of the respondents from the rural health facilities had some knowledge of cleft lip and palate respectively, while at the sub-urban facilities only 38.3% and 45.9% had heard of cleft lip and palate respectively.
Conclusions: The knowledge and awareness of orofacial cleft lip and palate was low among antenatal attendees in this study. The knowledge and awareness was lower in urban facilities than sub-urban health facilities. There is a need to include awareness about orofacial cleft in the health promotion programs targeting mothers attending antenatal clinics, particularly urban facilities.

Keywords: Knowledge; antenatal attendees; orofacial cleft