A systematic review of barriers to accessing cleft care worldwide.

Purpose: Patients with cleft lip/palate need an interdisciplinary approach. Delays in the care of these patients and difficulties in accessing health services have been reported in different low-, middle-, and high-income countries. This study aimed to characterize worldwide publications on access to cleft lip and palate health treatment.

Methods: Databases were selected systematically and searched until July 2021. The review process followed standard methods for systematic reviews. The study quality was evaluated using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology guidelines for observational studies.

Results: A total of 289 publications were identified using our search strategy. After reviewing the titles and reading the abstracts and full text, 16 studies met the inclusion criteria in the review. In one study, financial difficulties obtained the attention of the professionals who attended to cleft lip/palate patients. Ethnic disparities, problems in transportation, and long distances between users and health centers were found. Additionally, there was misinformation about treatment and follow-up among the caregivers of patients with cleft lip/palate.

Conclusion: When reviewing the literature on access to health services for patients with cleft lip/palate, barriers were reported in access to information, physical access to care centers, financial resources to cover expenses for treatment, and opportunities in care.