ArticleBMJ global health2022
Protracted armed conflict and maternal health: a scoping review of literature and a retrospective analysis of primary data from northwest Syria.
Article in BMJ global health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Determinants of Cesarean Delivery During Wartime in Atbara, Sudan: A Case-Control Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Spatial patterns and predictors of antenatal care interruption in war-torn Tigray, northern Ethiopia: Spatial modelling approach.PloS one · 2025Article
- Increasing the number of midwives is necessary but not sufficient: using global data to support the case for investment in both midwife availability and the enabling work environment in low- and middle-income countries.Human resources for health · 2024Article
- Turkey-Syria Earthquake: The Importance of Providing a Direct Cross-border Support.JMA journal · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSyria's protracted conflict has devastated the health system reversing progress made on maternal health preconflict. Our aim is to understand the state of maternal health in Syria focused on underage pregnancy and caesarean sections using a scoping review and quantitative analysis; the latter draws on data from the Syrian American Medical Society's (SAMS) maternal health facilities in northwest Syria.
methodsWe performed a scoping review of academic and grey literature on the state of maternal health across Syria since the onset of conflict (taken as March 2011). Identified articles were screened using pre-established criteria and themes identified. We also performed a retrospective quantitative analysis of maternal health data from SAMS' facilities in a microcontext in north-west Syria between March 2017 and July 2020, analysing the trends in the proportion of births by caesarean section and age at pregnancy.
resultsScoping review: of 2824 articles, 21 remained after screening. Main themes related to maternal mortality rates, caesarean sections, maternal age and perinatal care. 12 studies reported caesarean section rates; these varied from 16% to 64% of all births: northern Syria (19%-45%,) Damascus (16%-54%,) Lattakia (64%) and Tartous (59%.) Quantitative analysis: Of 77 746 births across 17 facilities, trend data for caesarean sections showed a decrease from 35% in March 2017 to 23% in July 2020 across SAMS facilities. Girls under 18 years accounted for 10% of births and had a lower proportion of caesarean section births. There was notable geographical and interfacility variation in the findings.
conclusionThe quality of available literature was poor with country-level generalisations. Research which explores microcontexts in Syria is important given the different effects of conflict across the country and the fragmented health system. Our quantitative analysis provides some evidence around the changes to caesarean section rates in northwest Syria. Despite limitations, this study adds to sparse literature on this important topic.
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.