SynthesisBMC public health2014
What interventions are effective on reducing inequalities in maternal and child health in low- and middle-income settings? A systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
54 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Equity in prenatal healthcare services globally: an umbrella review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Factors influencing maternal death in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam countries: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Inequity in uptake of maternal health care services in developing countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Targeted health and social care interventions for women and infants who are disproportionately impacted by health inequalities in high-income countries: a systematic review.International journal for equity in health · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Impact of Political Economy on Population Health: A Systematic Review of Reviews.American journal of public health · 2019Pooled it
- The equity impact of community women's groups to reduce neonatal mortality: a meta-analysis of four cluster randomized trials.International journal of epidemiology · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of community health worker interventions on socioeconomic inequities in maternal and newborn health in low-income and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review.BMJ global health · 2019Pooled it
- How equitable are community health worker programmes and which programme features influence equity of community health worker services? A systematic review.BMC public health · 2016Pooled it
- Millennium development goal four and child health inequities in indonesia: a systematic review of the literature.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- The Equity Impact of Universal Home Visits to Pregnant Women and Their Spouses in Bauchi State, Nigeria: Secondary Analysis From a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.Community health equity research & policy · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Population-oriented health promotion and disease prevention interventions in primary healthcare: a scoping review of reviews.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Comparison of urban-rural inequality in quality antenatal care among women in Bangladesh and Pakistan: a multivariable decomposition analysis.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Social mechanisms of maternal health service use among pregnant women facing intersecting vulnerabilities in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- The association between china's primary health care reform and inequalities in primary care utilisation and maternal mortality: a quasi-experimental longitudinal study from 2010 to 2019.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Cost effective analysis after patient communication training in obstetrics - Evaluating economic efficiency.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe deadline for achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 is approaching, but inequalities between disadvantaged and other populations is a significant barrier for progress towards achieving these goals. This systematic review aims to collect evidence about the differential effects of interventions on different sociodemographic groups in order to identify interventions that were effective in reducing maternal or child health inequalities.
methodsWe searched the PubMed, EMBASE and other relevant databases. The reference lists of included reviews were also screened to find more eligible studies. We included experimental or observational studies that assessed the effects of interventions on maternal and child health, but only studies that report quantitative inequality outcomes were finally included for analysis.
results22 articles about the effectiveness of interventions on equity in maternal and child health were finally included. These studies covered five kinds of interventions: immunization campaigns, nutrition supplement programs, health care provision improvement interventions, demand side interventions, and mixed interventions. The outcome indicators covered all MDG 4 and three MDG 5 outcomes. None of the included studies looked at equity in maternal mortality, adolescent birth rate and unmet need for family planning. The included studies reported inequalities based on gender, income, education level or comprehensive socioeconomic status. Stronger or moderate evidence showed that all kinds of the included interventions may be more effective in improving maternal or child health for those from disadvantaged groups.
conclusionStudies about the effectiveness of interventions on equity in maternal or child health are limited. The limited evidence showed that the interventions that were effective in reducing inequity included the improvement of health care delivery by outreach methods, using human resources in local areas or provided at the community level nearest to residents and the provision of financial or knowledge support to demand side.
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Registered trials
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.