Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34474979›Full record

ArticleReproductive biomedicine online2021

Effects of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on natural and ART-mediated birth rates in Lombardy Region, Northern Italy.

Edgardo Somigliana, Giovanna Esposito, Paola Viganò, Matteo Franchi, Giovanni Corrao, Fabio Parazzini

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Reproductive biomedicine online, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. SARS-CoV-2, fertility and assisted reproduction.Human reproduction update · 2023
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
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

6 authors.

Edgardo SomiglianaDepartment of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: edgardo.somigliana@hsr.it.
Giovanna EspositoDepartment of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Paola ViganòDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
Matteo FranchiLaboratory of Healthcare Research and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; National Centre for Healthcare Research and Pharmacoepidemiology, Milan, Italy.
Giovanni CorraoLaboratory of Healthcare Research and Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; National Centre for Healthcare Research and Pharmacoepidemiology, Milan, Italy.
Fabio ParazziniDepartment of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

research questionWhat effects did the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic have on natural and assisted reproductive technology (ART)-mediated birth rates?

designRegional registries were consulted with permission from the Health Authorities of Lombardy Region, Northern Italy, an area particularly affected by the early phase of the epidemic. Deliveries occurring in the area between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020 from women beneficiaries of the National Health System and resident in Lombardy were identified. Comparisons mainly focused on December 2020, when women who conceived after 8 March (the start of the stringent lockdown imposed by the authorities) were expected to deliver.

resultsWhen comparing the periods January to November in 2019 and 2020, a 5.1% reduction of monthly general birth rate (from 5732 in 2019 to 5438 in 2020) was observed. The contribution of ART births was similar in 2019 and 2020, being 4.4% and 4.5%, respectively. In December 2020, a notable drop in natural (-17.8%), ART-mediated (-86.6%) and overall (-21.0%) births was observed compared with December 2019. After adjusting for the expected 5.1% reduction, the inferred effect of the COVID-19 crisis corresponded to a 16.7% reduction in birth rate, of which 76% was related to natural (707 births) and 24% to ART (218 births) conceptions.

conclusionsThis is the first study providing population-based evidence on the effects of COVID-19 and its related stringent restrictions on birth rates. The birth rate was dramatically reduced following the critical period, and the closure of ART centres played only a marginal role (24%) in the overall detrimental effect.

Indexed as

Birth RateCommunicable Disease ControlCOVID-19FemaleHumansItalyPregnancyPregnancy, MultiplePregnancy OutcomeRegistriesReproductive Techniques, AssistedAssisted reproductive techniqueBirth rateCOVID-19Demographic crisis

Identifiers

PMID34474979
PMCPMC8496890

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.