SynthesisSystematic reviews2015
Treatment of vaginal candidiasis for the prevention of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vulvovaginal yeast infections during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC women's health · 2023Pooled it
- Guideline
- Treatment of vaginal candidiasis for the prevention of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Sertaconazole 300 mg versus clotrimazole 500 mg vaginal suppository for treating pregnant women with acute vaginal candidiasis: a double-blinded, randomized trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Trial
- Providing lipid-based nutrient supplement during pregnancy does not reduce the risk of maternal P falciparum parasitaemia and reproductive tract infections: a randomised controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2017Trial
- Vaginal Infection in Pregnancy Is Associated with Amniotic Oxidative Stress: Insights from AOPP and MDA on Neonatal Outcomes.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Role of vulvovaginal infection in women with short cervix: An observational clinical trial.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Observational
- The effects of vaginal infections on pregnancy outcomes: a retrospective cohort study in China.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis Caused by Fluconazole-Resistant Candida albicans: A Retrospective Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Association of common maternal infections with birth outcomes: a multinational cohort study.Infection · 2024Article
- Internet-Based Interventions for Preventing Premature Birth Among Pregnant Women: Systematic Review.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2024Review
- Second trimester vaginalFrontiers in global women's health · 2024Article
- Vulvovaginitis in pregnant women.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2024Review
- Microbial diversity in the vaginal microbiota and its link to pregnancy outcomes.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Vulvovaginal yeast infections, gestational diabetes and pregnancy outcome.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Pattern of Antibiotic Use in the Perinatal Period in a Public University Hospital in Romania.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Interventions for the prevention of spontaneous preterm birth: a scoping review of systematic reviews.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Incident HIV Infection During Pregnancy Predict Preterm Birth Despite Treatment.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Bioinformatics Analysis of Oral, Vaginal, and Rectal Microbial Profiles during Pregnancy: A Pilot Study on the Bacterial Co-Residence in Pregnant Women.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Clotrimazole for Vulvovaginal Candidosis: More Than 45 Years of Clinical Experience.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecognition that ascending infection leads to preterm birth has led to a number of studies that have evaluated the treatment of vaginal infections in pregnancy to reduce preterm birth rates. However, the role of candidiasis is relatively unexplored. Our aim was to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether treatment of pregnant women with vulvovaginal candidiasis reduces preterm birth rates and other adverse birth outcomes.
methodsWe undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in which pregnant women were treated for vulvovaginal candidiasis (compared to placebo or no treatment) and where preterm birth was reported as an outcome. Trials were identified by searching the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline and Embase databases to January 2014. Trial eligibility and outcomes were pre-specified. Two reviewers independently assessed the studies against the agreed criteria and extracted relevant data using a standard data extraction form. Meta-analysis was used to calculate pooled rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a fixed-effects model.
resultsThere were two eligible RCTs both among women with asymptomatic candidiasis, with a total of 685 women randomised. Both trials compared treatment with usual care (no screening for, or treatment of, asymptomatic candidiasis). Data from one trial involved a post-hoc subgroup analysis (n = 586) of a larger trial of treatment of 4,429 women with asymptomatic infections in pregnancy and the other was a pilot study (n = 99). There was a significant reduction in spontaneous preterm births in treated compared with untreated women (meta-analysis RR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.75). Other outcomes were reported by one or neither trial.
conclusionsThis systematic review found two trials comparing the treatment of asymptomatic vaginal candidiasis in pregnancy for the outcome of preterm birth. Although the effect estimate suggests that treatment of asymptomatic candidiasis may reduce the risk of preterm birth, the result needs to be interpreted with caution as the primary driver for the pooled estimate comes from a post-hoc (unplanned) subgroup analysis. A prospective trial with sufficient power to answer the clinical question 'does treatment of asymptomatic candidiasis in early pregnancy prevent preterm birth' is warranted. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42014009241.
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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.