Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Research in CMAJ Open

Highlights

CMAJ March 15, 2016 188 (5) 338; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.160187
  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Ankyloglossia and frenotomy

Ankyloglossia, or tongue-tie, is characterized by an unusually short, thick or tight lingual frenulum that may interfere with feeding or speech. Although there has been a long-standing controversy over the use of frenotomy for affected infants, the Canadian Paediatric Society does not recommend its use based on the available evidence. Routine surveillance activities led to identification of a temporal increase in ankyloglossia in British Columbia. Researchers conducted a population-based cohort study to examine these temporal trends and those of its surgical treatment in BC from 2004 to 2013. During the study period, there were 459 445 live births and 3022 cases of ankyloglossia. The population incidence of the condition increased by 70% (rate ratio 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44 to 2.01), from 5.0 per 1000 live births in 2004 to 8.4 in 2013. This was accompanied by an increase in the population rate of fenotomy by 89% (95% CI 52% to 134%), from 2.8 per 1000 live births to 5.3 over the study period (Figure 1). The regional health authorities with the lowest and highest rates of ankyloglossia also had the lowest and highest rates of frenotomy respectively. With increased focus on breastfeeding initiation before hospital discharge in the province, these large temporal increases and substantial spatial variations in ankyloglossia and frenotomy rates may indicate a diagnostic suspicion bias and increasing use of a potentially unnecessary surgical procedure in infants, say the authors. CMAJ Open 2016;4:E33–40.

Figure 1:
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Figure 1:

Rates of ankyloglossia and frenotomy by year.

Impact of tobacco packaging policy on use of a toll-free quit-smoking line

In March 2012, Health Canada introduced a pan-Canadian toll-free number for a quit-smoking line on new health warning labels for cigarette packages (Figure 2). Once called, the number automatically sends the caller to the quitline service of their respective province or territory. This study used an interrupted time-series analysis to examine trends in the overall call volume and number of new callers receiving treatment (at least one telephone counselling session) through Ontario’s quitline (Smokers’ Helpline) before and after the new policy was introduced (2010 to 2013). There was a relative increase of 160% in the average monthly call volume during the 7 months after the introduction of the new labels (an average of 870 calls per month at baseline to 1391 additional calls per month after the policy change; standard error [SE] 108.94, p < 0.001). The increase was sustained at 43% in subsequent months. The average number of new callers receiving treatment also increased in the first 7 months (relative increase of 174%), from 153 new callers per month at baseline to 267 additional new callers per month (SE 40.03, p < 0.001) after the policy change, with a sustained increase of 80% in subsequent months. The effect was significant even after adjusting for a major promotion campaign and the January effect (i.e., a seasonal phenomenon where people decide to stop smoking as a New Year’s resolution). CMAJ Open 2016;4:E59–65.

Figure 2:
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Figure 2:

Example of a health warning label for Canadian tobacco packaging introduced in March 2012.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 188 (5)
CMAJ
Vol. 188, Issue 5
15 Mar 2016
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Highlights
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Highlights
CMAJ Mar 2016, 188 (5) 338; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.160187

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Highlights
CMAJ Mar 2016, 188 (5) 338; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.160187
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Ankyloglossia and frenotomy
    • Impact of tobacco packaging policy on use of a toll-free quit-smoking line
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Highlights
  • Highlights
  • Highlights
Show more Research in CMAJ Open

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions

Copyright 2021, Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

Powered by HighWire