SynthesisBMC public health2013
The associations of birth intervals with small-for-gestational-age, preterm, and neonatal and infant mortality: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- FIGO position statement on postpartum intrauterine devices (PPIUD).International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Guideline
- The association between interpregnancy intervals and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Magnitude, determinants, and complications of short inter pregnancy intervals among pregnant mothers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Reproductive health · 2024Pooled it
- Birth spacing and risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Negative effects of short birth interval on child mortality in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Short interpregnancy intervals and adverse perinatal outcomes in high-resource settings: An updated systematic review.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2019Pooled it
- Short Maternal Stature Increases Risk of Small-for-Gestational-Age and Preterm Births in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis and Population Attributable Fraction.The Journal of nutrition · 2015Pooled it
- The associations of parity and maternal age with small-for-gestational-age, preterm, and neonatal and infant mortality: a meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2013Pooled it
- Demographic, socio-economic, obstetric, and behavioral factors associated with small-and large-for-gestational-age from a prospective, population-based pregnancy cohort in rural Nepal: a secondary data analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Trial
- Nutritional, Socioeconomic, and Delivery Characteristics Are Associated with Neurodevelopment in Tanzanian Children.The Journal of pediatrics · 2019Trial
- Risk factors for small-for-gestational-age and preterm births among 19,269 Tanzanian newborns.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2016Trial
- Patriarchal norms and reproductive vulnerability: association between son preference and high-risk fertility behaviour in India.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Article
- Knowledge and Attitude Toward Interpregnancy Interval and Its Impact on Women's Health.Cureus · 2026Review
- Is the Availability of Immediate Inpatient Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Associated with a Decrease in Rapid Repeat Pregnancy?Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM · 2026Article
- A large-scale prediction model to predict large for gestational age infants conceived by IVF/ICSI.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Article
- The world of contraception: A global mapping project across FIGO member societies.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- Predictors of birth interval among childbearing-age women in East Africa: Weibull gamma shared frailty model.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundShort and long birth intervals have previously been linked to adverse neonatal outcomes. However, much of the existing literature uses cross-sectional studies, from which deriving causal inference is complex. We examine the association between short/long birth intervals and adverse neonatal outcomes by calculating and meta-analyzing associations using original data from cohort studies conducted in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC).
methodsWe identified five cohort studies. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were calculated for each study, with birth interval as the exposure and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and/or preterm birth, and neonatal and infant mortality as outcomes. The associations were controlled for potential confounders and meta-analyzed.
resultsBirth interval of shorter than 18 months had statistically significant increased odds of SGA (pooled aOR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.31-1.75), preterm (pooled aOR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.19-2.10) and infant mortality (pooled aOR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.19-2.81) after controlling for potential confounding factors (reference 36-<60 months). It was also significantly associated with term-SGA, preterm-appropriate-for-gestational-age, and preterm-SGA. Birth interval over 60 months had increased risk of SGA (pooled aOR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.07-1.39) and term-SGA (pooled aOR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.03-1.27), but was not associated with other outcomes.
conclusionsBirth intervals shorter than 18 months are significantly associated with SGA, preterm birth and death in the first year of life. Lack of access to family planning interventions thus contributes to the burden of adverse birth outcomes and infant mortality in LMICs. Programs and policies must assess ways to provide equitable access to reproductive health interventions to mothers before or soon after delivering a child, but also address underlying socioeconomic factors that may modify and worsen the effect of short intervals.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.