Prevalence of preterm birth in Scandinavian countries:a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: Journal of International Medical Research
• Main Authors: Behboudi-Gandevani, Samira, Bidhendi-Yarandi, Razieh, Hossein Panahi, Mohammad, Mardani, Abbas, Prinds, Christina, Vaismoradi, Mojtaba, Glarcher, Manela
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/21269319-f11f-4080-a850-c51e95ef8985; https://doi.org/10.1177/03000605231203843; https://findresearcher.sdu.dk/ws/files/244653205/behboudi_gandevani_et_al_2023_prevalence_of_preterm_birth_in_scandinavian_countries_a_systematic_review_and_meta.pdf

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.