Comprehensive Cleft Care Delivery in Developing Countries: Impact of Geographic and Demographic Factors

Introduction: The authors analyzed the insights of participants and faculty members of Global Smile Foundation's Comprehensive Cleft Care Workshops concerning the barriers and interventions to multidisciplinary cleft care delivery, after stratification based on demographic and geographic factors. Methods: During 2 simulation-based Comprehensive Cleft Care Workshops organized by Global Smile Foundation, participants and faculty members filled a survey. Surveys included demographic and geographic data and investigated the most relevant barrier to multidisciplinary cleft care and the most significant intervention to deliver comprehensive cleft care in outreach settings, as perceived by participants. Results: The total response rate was 57.8%. Respondents reported that the greatest barrier to comprehensive cleft care was financial, and the most relevant intervention to deliver multidisciplinary cleft care was building multidisciplinary teams. Stratification by age, gender, and geographical area showed no statistical difference in reporting that the greatest barrier to cleft care was financial. However, lack of multidisciplinary teams was the most important barrier according to respondents with less than 5 years of experience (P = 0.03). Stratification by gender, years in practice, specialty, and geographical area showed no statistical difference, with building multidisciplinary teams reported as the most significant intervention. However, increased training was reported as the main intervention to cleft care for those aged less than 30 years old (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Our study delivers an assessment for barriers facing multidisciplinary cleft care delivery and interventions required to improve cleft care delivery. The authors are hoping that stratification by demographic and geographic factors will help them delineate community-specific road maps to refine cleft care delivery.