Table 1.
Number of first primary cleft lip and palate repair procedures by year of surgery and the children’s characteristics
| Year of surgery* | No of procedures | |||||||
| Lip repair | Palate repairs | |||||||
| 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 | Relative difference (95% CI) | P value | 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 | Relative difference (95% CI) | P value | |
| All | 408 | 321 | −21.32 (−32.24 to -8.71) | 0.0013 | 534 | 453 | −15.17 (−25.32 to -3.67) | 0.0099 |
| Cleft type | (p=0.6389)† | (p=0.8277)† | ||||||
| Cleft lip only | 157 | 116 | −26.11 (−42.39 to -5.47) | 0.0131 | _ | _ | _ | _ |
| Cleft palate only | _ | _ | _ | _ | 284 | 233 | −17.96 (−31.31 to 2.09) | 0.0249 |
| Unilateral CLP | 165 | 141 | −14.54 (−32.24 to 7.65) | 0.1707 | 164 | 147 | −10.37 (−28.75 to 12.67) | 0.3358 |
| Bilateral CLP | 86 | 64 | −25.58 (−47.01 to 4.05) | 0.073 | 86 | 73 | −15.12 (−38.73 to 17.32) | 0.3041 |
| Congenital malformations | (p=0.1867)† | (p=0.0210)† | ||||||
| No additional malformations | 282 | 207 | −26.60 (−38.95 to -11.86) | 0.0007 | 240 | 237 | −1.25 (−17.82 to 18.66) | 0.8909 |
| Additional malformations | 126 | 114 | −9.52 (−30.39 to 17.50) | 0.4396 | 294 | 216 | −26.53 (−38.65 to -12.12) | 0.0005 |
| IMD quintile | (p=0.9045)† | (p=0.8962)† | ||||||
| Q1 (Most deprived) | 94 | 86 | −8.51 (−32.51 to 23.90) | 0.5522 | 127 | 114 | −10.24 (−30.91 to 16.51) | 0.4034 |
| Q2 | 79 | 61 | −22.78 (−45.64 to 9.22) | 0.1293 | 117 | 98 | −16.24 (−36.62 to 10.49) | 0.196 |
| Q3 | 65 | 53 | −18.46 (−44.36 to 19.02) | 0.2712 | 92 | 78 | −15.22 (−38.11 to 15.90) | 0.2843 |
| Q4 | 61 | 45 | −26.23 (−50.95 to 10.23) | 0.1215 | 62 | 51 | −17.74 (−44.35 to 21.11) | 0.3029 |
| Q5 (least deprived) | 47 | 36 | −23.40 (−51.79 to 20.79) | 0.2299 | 55 | 57 | 3.51 (−42.28 to 34.61) | 0.8509 |
| Missing | 62 | 40 | _ | _ | 81 | 55 | _ | _ |
| Ethnicity | (p=0.7415)† | (p=0.3669)† | ||||||
| White/white British | 327 | 253 | −22.63 (−34.60 to -8.55) | 0.0021 | 414 | 341 | −17.63 (−28.84 to -4.71) | 0.0079 |
| Minority ethnicity | 74 | 61 | −17.57 (−42.25 to 17.28) | 0.2649 | 112 | 106 | −5.36 (−28.12 to 24.55) | 0.6852 |
| Missing | 7 | 7 | _ | _ | 8 | 6 | _ | _ |
| Region | (p=0.4821)† | (p=0.3715)† | ||||||
| North-East | 25 | 20 | −8.70 (−51.94 to 72.56) | 0.766 | 20 | 30 | 34.37 (−17.37 to 64.03) | 0.1337 |
| North-West | 45 | 50 | 6.12 (−43.34 to 38.61) | 0.7596 | 75 | 60 | −18.42 (−42.63 to 15.61) | 0.2349 |
| Yorkshire | 40 | 30 | −21.05 (−52.76 to 30.85) | 0.3356 | 55 | 40 | −28.30 (−54.01 to 10.82) | 0.1174 |
| East Midlands | 35 | 30 | −14.29 (−49.17 to 43.71) | 0.5386 | 35 | 25 | −27.78 (−58.13 to 22.98) | 0.2074 |
| West Midlands | 30 | 30 | −3.12 (−42.83 to 63.95) | 0.9007 | 45 | 50 | 9.80 (−37.07 to 40.79) | 0.6137 |
| East of England | 30 | 25 | −28.12 (−59.84 to 26.73) | 0.2288 | 40 | 30 | −28.57 (−56.83 to 16.87) | 0.1597 |
| London | 50 | 35 | −28.57 (−55.07 to 12.49) | 0.1284 | 60 | 60 | 0 (−45.48 to 31.26) | 1.0000 |
| South-East | 50 | 45 | −9.61 (−40.40 to 36.74) | 0.6173 | 65 | 65 | −1.54 (−31.38 to 41.24) | 0.9302 |
| South-West | 35 | 15 | −57.14 (−78.25 to -19.47) | 0.0046 | 40 | 30 | −21.95 (−52.42 to 27.01) | 0.2954 |
| Missing | 65 | 40 | _ | _ | 95 | 60 | _ | _ |
| Quarter | (p<0.0001)† | (p<0.0001)† | ||||||
| Q1 (April–June) | 105 | 10 | −90.48 (−95.56 to -81.78) | <0.0001 | 136 | 27 | −80.15 (−87.38 to -69.83) | <0.0001 |
| Q2 (July–September) | 107 | 110 | 2.73 (−26.16 to 28.10) | 0.839 | 149 | 182 | 18.13 (−2.22 to 34.52) | 0.07 |
| Q3 (October–December) | 103 | 140 | 26.43 (4.43 to 43.52) | 0.0177 | 123 | 130 | 5.38 (−22.01 to 26.66) | 0.6606 |
| Q4 (January–March) | 93 | 61 | −34.41 (−53.31 to -8.43) | 0.0099 | 126 | 114 | −9.52 (−30.39 to 17.50) | 0.4396 |
Region figures rounded to the nearest 5 for disclosure control.
*2020/2021: first year of COVID-19 pandemic; 2019/2020: preceding year.
†Mantel-Haenszel test for homogeneity, testing if the relative differences vary according to the children’s characteristics.
CLP, cleft lip and palate; IMD, Index of Multiple Deprivation.