Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25626053›Full record

SynthesisEnvironmental health perspectives2015

Association of arsenic with adverse pregnancy outcomes/infant mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Reginald Quansah, Frederick Ato Armah, David Kofi Essumang, Isaac Luginaah, Edith Clarke, Kissinger Marfoh, Samuel Jerry Cobbina, Edward Nketiah-Amponsah, Proscovia Bazanya Namujju, Samuel Obiri and 1 more

Open access · diamondAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Environmental health perspectives, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 110 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
110citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
22.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

110 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 349 citations in OpenAlex.

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  20. Interplay Between Vitamin D Levels and Heavy Metals Exposure in Pregnancy and Childbirth: A Systematic Review.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2024
    Review

50 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.

Reginald QuansahCentre for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University Of Oulu, Finland.
Frederick Ato Armah
David Kofi Essumang
Isaac Luginaah
Edith Clarke
Kissinger Marfoh
Samuel Jerry Cobbina
Edward Nketiah-Amponsah
Proscovia Bazanya Namujju
Samuel Obiri
Mawuli Dzodzomenyo
University of Ghana · GHWestern University · CACouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research · GHJiangsu University · CNKorle Bu Teaching Hospital · GHTampere University · FIUniversity of Cape Coast · GH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExposure to arsenic is one of the major global health problems, affecting > 300 million people worldwide, but arsenic's effects on human reproduction are uncertain.

objectivesWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the association between arsenic and adverse pregnancy outcomes/infant mortality.

methodsWe searched PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE (from 1946 through July 2013) and EMBASE (from 1988 through July 2013) databases and the reference lists of reviews and relevant articles. Studies satisfying our a priori eligibility criteria were evaluated independently by two authors.

resultsOur systematic search yielded 888 articles; of these, 23 were included in the systematic review. Sixteen provided sufficient data for our quantitative analysis. Arsenic in groundwater (≥ 50 μg/L) was associated with increased risk of spontaneous abortion (6 studies: OR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.27, 3.10), stillbirth (9 studies: OR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.36), moderate risk of neonatal mortality (5 studies: OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.28, 1.78), and infant mortality (7 studies: OR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.62). Exposure to environmental arsenic was associated with a significant reduction in birth weight (4 studies: β = -53.2 g; 95% CI: -94.9, -11.4). There was paucity of evidence for low-to-moderate arsenic dose.

conclusionsArsenic is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality. The interpretation of the causal association is hampered by methodological challenges and limited number of studies on dose response. Exposure to arsenic continues to be a major global health issue, and we therefore advocate for high-quality prospective studies that include individual-level data to quantify the impact of arsenic on adverse pregnancy outcomes/infant mortality.

Indexed as

Infant MortalityArsenicFemaleHumansInfantPregnancyPregnancy OutcomeWater PollutantsArsenicWater Pollutants

Identifiers

PMID25626053
PMCPMC4421764
OpenAlexW2013525093

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC0
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.