ArticleBJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology2017
Variations in very preterm birth rates in 30 high-income countries: are valid international comparisons possible using routine data?
Article in BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Dynamics of immune-checkpoint regulators and inflammatory cytokines and chemokines associated with preterm birth before and after cervical cerclage.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Socio-Economic Inequalities in Stillbirth and Preterm Birth Rates Across Europe: A Population-Based Study.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Neonatal mortality risk for vulnerable newborn types in 15 countries using 125.5 million nationwide birth outcome records, 2000-2020.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Unmasking measles in pregnancy: A fatal rare case of maternal measles with posthumous diagnosis in a resource-constrained setting.Radiology case reports · 2025Article
- Evaluating Perinatal Health in Europe: A Comparison of Routine Population Birth Data Sources.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Enlarged airspaces in the distal lung in adolescents born very preterm as measured by aerosol.BMJ open respiratory research · 2024Article
- Perinatal death in the Nordic countries in relation to gestational age: The impact of registration practice.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic and ethnic disparities in preterm births in an English maternity setting: a population-based study of 1.3 million births.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Risk Factors for Postpartum Depression and Severe Distress among Mothers of Very Preterm Infants at NICU Discharge.American journal of perinatology · 2024Article
- Trends in preterm birth in the Netherlands in 2011-2019: A population-based study among singletons and multiples.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- [Indicadores de salud perinatal en una región española entre los años 2015 y 2020.]Revista espanola de salud publica · 2023Article
- Developing and testing a protocol using a common data model for federated collection and analysis of national perinatal health indicators in Europe.Open research Europe · 2023Article
- Immune-checkpoint proteins, cytokines, and microbiome impact on patients with cervical insufficiency and preterm birth.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Recent historic increase of infant mortality in France: A time-series analysis, 2001 to 2019.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Joint spatio-temporal modelling of adverse pregnancy outcomes sharing common risk factors at sub-county level in Kenya, 2016-2019.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Are infant mortality rates increasing in England? The effect of extreme prematurity and early neonatal deaths.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2021Article
- Parents' ratings of post-discharge healthcare for their children born very preterm and their suggestions for improvement: a European cohort study.Pediatric research · 2021Article
- Temporal trends of care practices, morbidity, and mortality of extremely preterm infants over 10-years in South Wales, UK.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- County-level Variation in Low Birthweight and Preterm Birth: An Evaluation of State Medicaid Expansion Under the Affordable Care Act.Medical care · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 12 institutions in 12 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveConcerns about differences in registration practices across countries have limited the use of routine data for international very preterm birth (VPT) rate comparisons.
designPopulation-based study.
settingTwenty-seven European countries, the United States, Canada and Japan in 2010. POPULATION: A total of 9 376 252 singleton births.
methodWe requested aggregated gestational age data on live births, stillbirths and terminations of pregnancy (TOP) before 32 weeks of gestation, and information on registration practices for these births. We compared VPT rates and assessed the impact of births at 22-23 weeks of gestation, and different criteria for inclusion of stillbirths and TOP on country rates and rankings.
main outcome measuresSingleton very preterm birth rate, defined as singleton stillbirths and live births before 32 completed weeks of gestation per 1000 total births, excluding TOP if identifiable in the data source.
resultsRates varied from 5.7 to 15.7 per 1000 total births and 4.0 to 11.9 per 1000 live births. Country registration practices were related to percentage of births at 22-23 weeks of gestation (between 1% and 23% of very preterm births) and stillbirths (between 6% and 40% of very preterm births). After excluding births at 22-23 weeks, rate variations remained high and with a few exceptions, country rankings were unchanged.
conclusionsInternational comparisons of very preterm birth rates using routine data should exclude births at 22-23 weeks of gestation and terminations of pregnancy. The persistent large rate variations after these exclusions warrant continued surveillance of VPT rates at 24 weeks and over in high-income countries. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: International comparisons of VPT rates should exclude births at 22-23 weeks of gestation and terminations of pregnancy.
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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.