The worldwide incidence of preterm birth: a systematic review of maternal mortality and morbidity

To analyse preterm birth rates worldwide to assess the incidence of this public health problem, map the regional distribution of preterm births and gain insight into existing assessment strategies. Data on preterm birth rates worldwide were extracted during a previous systematic review of published...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the World Health Organization Vol. 88; no. 1; pp. 31 - 38
Main Authors: Beck, Stacey, Wojdyla, Daniel, Say, Lale, Pilar Bertran, Ana, Meraldi, Mario, Harris Requejo, Jennifer, Rubens, Craig, Menon, Ramkumar, Van Look, Paul
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Genève Organisation mondiale de la santé 01.01.2010
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Birth rate
Births
Childbirth & labor
Data
Developed Countries - statistics & numerical data
Developing countries
Developing Countries - statistics & numerical data
Epidemiology
Estimates
General aspects
Gestational age
Global Health
Health problems
Health Surveys
Humans
Incidence
Industrialized nations
Infant mortality
LDCs
Maternal and infant welfare
Maternal Mortality
Medical records
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Morbidity
Mortality
Mortality rates
Mothers
Multiple births
Neonatal care
Perinatal
Population
Premature birth
Premature Birth - epidemiology
Public health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Regions
Socioeconomic factors
Statistics
Systematic review
Women's Health
Womens health
Pregnancy disorders
Mortality
Premature delivery
Systematic review
Epidemiology
Morbidity
Incidence
Pregnancy
Mother
Prematurity
Tropical medicine
Public health
WHO
ISSN:0042-9686, 1564-0604, 1564-0604
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To analyse preterm birth rates worldwide to assess the incidence of this public health problem, map the regional distribution of preterm births and gain insight into existing assessment strategies. Data on preterm birth rates worldwide were extracted during a previous systematic review of published and unpublished data on maternal mortality and morbidity reported between 1997 and 2002. Those data were supplemented through a complementary search covering the period 2003-2007. Region-specific multiple regression models were used to estimate the preterm birth rates for countries with no data. We estimated that in 2005, 12.9 million births, or 9.6% of all births worldwide, were preterm. Approximately 11 million (85%) of these preterm births were concentrated in Africa and Asia, while about 0.5 million occurred in each of Europe and North America (excluding Mexico) and 0.9 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. The highest rates of preterm birth were in Africa and North America (11.9% and 10.6% of all births, respectively), and the lowest were in Europe (6.2%). Preterm birth is an important perinatal health problem across the globe. Developing countries, especially those in Africa and southern Asia, incur the highest burden in terms of absolute numbers, although a high rate is also observed in North America. A better understanding of the causes of preterm birth and improved estimates of the incidence of preterm birth at the country level are needed to improve access to effective obstetric and neonatal care.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-3
ObjectType-Undefined-4
ISSN:0042-9686
1564-0604
1564-0604
DOI:10.2471/BLT.08.062554