Barriers in Cleft Service Access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Thematic Analysis of Practical Needs of Rural Families.

Objective: To explore the experiences and perceptions of barriers of parents and family members of patients with cleft lip and palate in accessing cleft services in remote northwest Nigeria.

Design: Face-to-face semi-structured audio recorded interviews were used to obtained qualitative textual data. Thematic analysis using interpretative descriptive techniques was employed to understand the participants' lived experiences with barriers and accessibility to cleft services.