ArticleBMJ public health2024
A scoping review on heat indices used to measure the effects of heat on maternal and perinatal health.
Article in BMJ public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on heat thresholds for maternal health and birth outcomes.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Age-specific exposure to human-induced increases in humid heat.Science advances · 2026Article
- Ambient heat and early childhood development: a cross-national analysis.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Factors that influence the adoption of heat-health protective actions during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study conducted in San Antonio, Texas, United States, in 2024.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Heat during Pregnancy and Reduced Fetal Growth: Critical Windows of Exposure and the Intertwined Role of Air Pollution, Vegetation, and Social Stressors.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- How is maternal, newborn, and child health addressed in Heat Health Action Plans? A scoping review and content analysis.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Examining the Association between Heat Exposure and Crime in Cities across the United States: A Scoping Review.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2025Article
- Racial and Economic Disparities in High-Temperature Exposure in Brazil.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Nonlinear association between wet-bulb globe temperature and maternal hypertensive disorders burden: a global analysis from 1990 to 2021.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The relationship between prenatal heat exposure and birth outcomes: How much does the heat metric matter?PloS one · 2025Article
- Heat Index: An Alternative Indicator for Measuring the Impacts of Meteorological Factors on Diarrhoea in the Climate Change Era: A Time Series Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Climate change, air pollution and maternal and newborn health: An overview of reviews of health outcomes.Journal of global health · 2024Review
- The influence of heat exposure on birth and neonatal outcomes in Mombasa, Kenya: A pooled time series analysis.The journal of climate change and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
A previous systematic review has shown associations between exposure to high temperatures and negative birth outcomes. To date, a scoping review for heat indices and their use to measure effects of heat on maternal and perinatal health has not been considered. Objectives: To provide a scoping review on heat stress and indices for those interested in the epidemiology and working in extreme heat and maternal perinatal health. Methods: This study is a scoping review based on a previous review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews. It identifies the main ways heat stress through different heat indices impacts maternal and perinatal health in available literature. For documents that met the inclusion criteria, we extracted 23 publications. Results: We find four heat indices: heat index, apparent temperature, wet bulb globe temperature and universal thermal climate index. Exposure to elevated levels of heat stress can be associated with preterm birth. In addition, the more intense and prolonged duration of exposure to heat stress, the greater the risk of stillbirth. Negative birth outcomes can occur from change in hormonal levels (ie, cortisol), dehydration and blood flow diversion away from the placenta and fetus when suffering from heat stress. All studies demonstrate that certain socioeconomic factors influence the effect of heat on maternal and perinatal health outcomes. Conclusion: We make three suggestions based on the results: (1) heat indices should be standardised across studies and explained. (2) An increased number of perinatal and maternal health outcomes explored. Finally, (3) enhanced collaboration across climate and health to improve understanding.
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Registered trials
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