TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of preterm birth in Scandinavian countries
T2 - a systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Behboudi-Gandevani, Samira
AU - Bidhendi-Yarandi, Razieh
AU - Hossein Panahi, Mohammad
AU - Mardani, Abbas
AU - Prinds, Christina
AU - Vaismoradi, Mojtaba
AU - Glarcher, Manela
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - OBJECTIVES: As welfare societies, Scandinavian countries share characteristics of equality related to healthcare access, gender, and social services. However, cultural and lifestyle variations create country-specific health differences. This meta-analysis assessed the prevalence of preterm birth (PTB) and its categories in Scandinavian countries.METHODS: A systematic search in key databases of literature published between 1990 and 2021 identified studies of the prevalence of PTB and its categories. Following the use of the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation, a meta-analysis of weighted data was performed using the random-effects model and meta-prop method.RESULTS: We identified 109 observational studies that involved 86,420,188 live births. The overall pooled prevalence (PP) of PTB was 5.3% (PP = 5.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.1%, 5.5%). The highest prevalence was in Norway (PP = 6.2%, 95% CI 5.3%, 7.0%), followed by Sweden (PP = 5.3%, 95% CI 5.1%, 5.4%), Denmark (PP = 5.2%, 95% CI 4.9%, 5.3%), and Iceland (PP = 5.0%, 95% CI 4.4%, 5.7%). Finland had the lowest PTB rate (PP = 4.9%, 95% CI 4.7%, 5.1%).CONCLUSIONS: The overall PP of PTB was 5.3%, with small variations among countries (4.9%-6.2%). The highest and lowest PPs of PTB were in Norway and Finland, respectively.
AB - OBJECTIVES: As welfare societies, Scandinavian countries share characteristics of equality related to healthcare access, gender, and social services. However, cultural and lifestyle variations create country-specific health differences. This meta-analysis assessed the prevalence of preterm birth (PTB) and its categories in Scandinavian countries.METHODS: A systematic search in key databases of literature published between 1990 and 2021 identified studies of the prevalence of PTB and its categories. Following the use of the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation, a meta-analysis of weighted data was performed using the random-effects model and meta-prop method.RESULTS: We identified 109 observational studies that involved 86,420,188 live births. The overall pooled prevalence (PP) of PTB was 5.3% (PP = 5.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.1%, 5.5%). The highest prevalence was in Norway (PP = 6.2%, 95% CI 5.3%, 7.0%), followed by Sweden (PP = 5.3%, 95% CI 5.1%, 5.4%), Denmark (PP = 5.2%, 95% CI 4.9%, 5.3%), and Iceland (PP = 5.0%, 95% CI 4.4%, 5.7%). Finland had the lowest PTB rate (PP = 4.9%, 95% CI 4.7%, 5.1%).CONCLUSIONS: The overall PP of PTB was 5.3%, with small variations among countries (4.9%-6.2%). The highest and lowest PPs of PTB were in Norway and Finland, respectively.
U2 - 10.1177/03000605231203843
DO - 10.1177/03000605231203843
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37843530
SN - 0300-0605
VL - 51
JO - The Journal of International Medical Research
JF - The Journal of International Medical Research
IS - 10
ER -