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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Mary-Elizabeth M. Reeve, PhD, MPH, Global Programs, March of Dimes, 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605, (914) 997-4247, mreeve@modimes.org, John A. Persing, MD, Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, Yale Physicians Building 2, 800 Howard Avenue, New Haven, CT 06520, Sheela M. Magge, MD, Department of Endocrinology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2400 Chestnut Street, Apt. 1805, Philadelphia, PA 19103, and Nora Groce, PhD, Epidemiology and Public Health, Global Health Division, Yale University, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510.
A high incidence of cleft lip/cleft palate has been documented among the inhabitants of the Amazon Basin in South America. At an Interplast international surgical team site in the city of Manaus, Brazil, approximately 100 craniofacial surgeries are performed during each of two yearly one week visits. Surgical outcomes are carefully monitored by health care professionals at the site in collaboration with the international team. The social impact of surgery on patients and families is less well documented. In this study, 28 patients and their families were interviewed on demographics, prior treatment strategies, and socio-cultural factors such as social identity, beliefs concerning causation of the disease, and anticipated non-surgical outcomes of craniofacial surgery. This paper presents data on the demographic and socio-cultural factors that impact the status of individuals born with cleft lip/cleft palate in this region, and how these factors may effect the non-clinical outcome of craniofacial surgery. Observations from these data are likely to be applicable to similar surgical programs in other parts of the world.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.