SynthesisReproductive health2025
The impact of economic growth and recessions on maternal and child health outcomes in sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic literature review.
Synthesis in Reproductive health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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.
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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Economic development and under-five mortality: a global longitudinal analysis of lagged effects and between-country inequalities.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Agricultural Commodity Price Volatility and Adolescent Reproductive Health in Developing Economies: Pathways, Controversies, and Policy Priorities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
- Unveiling hidden heterogeneity and inequalities in the continuum of care for reproductive, maternal, and child health services in sub-Saharan Africa: A multilevel latent class analysis approach.Global epidemiology · 2026Article
- Increasing the ecological footprint significantly reduces life expectancy and increases infant mortality rates in Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Convergence in maternal mortality ratios: evidence and implications for SDG 3.1.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Distributional dynamics of child mortality in Africa: quantile evidence from economic, environmental, and demographic transitions.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Surviving the first five years: the economic and healthcare determinants of child mortality in Sri Lanka.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Does the Health Kuznets Curve hypothesis hold for Saudi Arabia? A quantile ARDL analysis of disability-adjusted life years and their burden components.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A stacked ensemble machine learning model for the prediction of pentavalent 3 vaccination dropout in East Africa.Frontiers in big data · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe discourse surrounding the relationship between economic growth and maternal and child health has extended over several years. While some studies highlight the potential positive impact of economic growth on maternal and child health, others challenge the conventional belief that economic growth invariably translates to improved maternal and child health. Recent findings suggest that its role as a sole determinant of mortality outcomes has declined over time. This systematic review aims to consolidate existing literature and offer a comprehensive overview of this relationship in sub-Saharan African countries.
methodsA structured search of Medline, Embase, Web of Science, EconLit, and Global Health was conducted. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies published between 2000 to 2022 that examined national level economic growth and recession in conjunction with health outcomes of mothers and children in sub-Saharan African countries.
resultsA total of 1167 studies were initially identified from the database searches, of which 18 met the inclusion criteria for data extraction. The review presents a range of findings. Eleven studies underscore the significant impact of economic growth in reducing child mortality and undernutrition, and maternal mortality rate. Conversely, other studies indicated insignificant or inconsistent associations, emphasizing the importance of various socio-economic factors such as female education, equitable resource distribution, effective governance, and comprehensive maternal and child health coverage and interventions. These factors are considered crucial in maximizing the benefits derived from national economic growth.
conclusionsFuture research should explore alternative economic growth indicators such as, inequality-adjusted Human Development Index and Genuine Progress Indicator, to better capture several socio-economic factors. Additionally, expanding the timeframe could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of economic growth and recession on maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa.
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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.