ArticleEuropean journal of public health2018
International variations in the gestational age distribution of births: an ecological study in 34 high-income countries.
Article in European journal of public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Neonatal complications in late-preterm and early-term infants: a systematic review of observational studies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Cognitive and academic outcomes of large-for-gestational-age babies born at early term: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Timing of Term Births and Associated Mortality Risks: Ecological Analysis Across 28 European Countries.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Late-Preterm and Early-Term Birth.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Psychomotor development, emotional regulation, and executive functions in 2-years-old children after threatened preterm labour: a prospective cohort study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Time Trend Analysis of Early Term Births in Greece (1980-2023): Persistent High Rates Raise Public Health Concerns.Cureus · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic and ethnic disparities in preterm births in an English maternity setting: a population-based study of 1.3 million births.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Neonatal Mortality Disparities by Gestational Age in European Countries.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- The use of late preterm antenatal corticosteroids in women with gestational diabetes : a puzzle worth solving.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- [Indicadores de salud perinatal en una región española entre los años 2015 y 2020.]Revista espanola de salud publica · 2023Article
- Childbearing with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders: A Large International Survey of Outcomes and Complications.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Cesarean sections and early-term births according to Robson classification: a population-based study with more than 17 million births in Brazil.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Differences in epidemiology of patients with preeclampsia between China and the US (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2021Review
- Preterm births in China between 2012 and 2018: an observational study of more than 9 million women.The Lancet. Global health · 2021Observational
- Neonatal healthcare-associated infections in Brazil: systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021Review
- Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Preterm and Early Term Births: A Population-Based Register Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Factors Associated with Increased Risk of Early Severe Neonatal Morbidity in Late Preterm and Early Term Infants.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Prenatal exposure to ambient air temperature and risk of early delivery.Environment international · 2020Article
- Risk of long-term renal disease in women with a history of preterm delivery: a population-based cohort study.BMC medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Few studies have investigated international variations in the gestational age (GA) distribution of births. While preterm births (22-36 weeks GA) and early term births (37-38 weeks) are at greater risk of adverse health outcomes compared to full term births (39-40 weeks), it is not known if countries with high preterm birth rates also have high early term birth rates. We examined rate associations between preterm and early term births and mean term GA by mode of delivery onset. Methods: We used routine aggregate data on the GA distribution of singleton live births from up to 34 high-income countries/regions in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2010 to study preterm and early term births overall and by spontaneous or indicated onset. Pearson correlation coefficients were adjusted for clustering in time trend analyses. Results: Preterm and early term births ranged from 4.1% to 8.2% (median 5.5%) and 15.6% to 30.8% (median 22.2%) of live births in 2010, respectively. Countries with higher preterm birth rates in 2004-2010 had higher early term birth rates (r > 0.50, P < 0.01) and changes over time were strongly correlated overall (adjusted-r = 0.55, P < 0.01) and by mode of onset. Conclusion: Positive associations between preterm and early term birth rates suggest that common risk factors could underpin shifts in the GA distribution. Targeting modifiable population risk factors for delivery before 39 weeks GA may provide a useful preterm birth prevention paradigm.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.