Short birth interval in the Asia-Pacific region: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Short birth interval is associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes for mothers and children. Despite this, there is a lack of comprehensive evidence on short birth interval in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, this study aimed to synthesise evidence related to the definition, classifi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of global health 2024-05, Vol.14, p.04072-04072, Article 04072
Main Authors: Hassen, Tahir Ahmed, Chojenta, Catherine, Khan, Md Nuruzzaman, Shifti, Desalegn Markos, Harris, Melissa Leigh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asia - epidemiology
Birth Intervals - statistics & numerical data
Birth order
Births
Breastfeeding & lactation
Childrens health
Classification
Content analysis
Data collection
Epidemiology
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Maternal & child health
Meta-analysis
Mortality
Pacific Islands - epidemiology
Pregnancy
Systematic review
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Short birth interval is associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes for mothers and children. Despite this, there is a lack of comprehensive evidence on short birth interval in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, this study aimed to synthesise evidence related to the definition, classification, prevalence, and predictors of short birth interval in the Asia-Pacific region. Five databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Maternity and Infant Care, and Web of Science) were searched for studies published between September 2000 and May 2023 (the last search was conducted for all databases in May 2023). We included original studies published in English that reported on short birth interval in the Asia-Pacific region. Studies that combined birth interval with birth order, used multi-country data and were published as conference abstracts and commentaries were excluded. Three independent reviewers screened the articles for relevancy, and two reviewers performed the data extraction and quality assessment. The risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool. The findings were both qualitatively and quantitatively synthesised and presented. A total of 140 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. About 58% (n = 82) of the studies defined short birth interval, while 42% (n = 58) did not. Out of 82 studies, nearly half (n = 39) measured a birth-to-birth interval, 37 studies measured a birth-to-pregnancy, four measured a pregnancy-to-pregnancy, and two studies measured a pregnancy loss-to-conception. Approximately 39% (n = 55) and 6% (n = 8) of studies classified short birth intervals as
ISSN:2047-2978
2047-2986
DOI:10.7189/jogh.14.04072