Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41398068›Full record

ArticleCommunications medicine2025

Risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth are mediated through changes in cervical length.

Hope M Wolf, Roberto Romero, Jerome F Strauss, Adi L Tarca, Sonia S Hassan, Bradley T Webb, Shawn J Latendresse, Timothy P York

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Communications medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

8 authors.

Hope M WolfDepartment of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
Roberto RomeroPerinatology Research Branch^, Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Detroit, MI, USA.
Jerome F StraussDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6876-1880
Adi L TarcaPerinatology Research Branch^, Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Detroit, MI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1712-7588
Sonia S HassanDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Bradley T WebbGenOmics, Bioinformatics, and Translational Research Center, Biostatistics and Epidemiology Division, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0576-5366
Shawn J Latendresse *Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3109-5033
Timothy P York *Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA. tpyork@vcu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-4286

Funding

NICHD NIH HHS HHSN275201300006CU.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) HHSN275201300006C)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough a short cervix in the mid-trimester of pregnancy is one of the strongest predictors of preterm birth (i.e., parturition before 37 completed weeks), there is limited understanding of how the dynamics of cervical remodeling (i.e., changes in cervical length) leading up to labor and delivery can inform obstetrical risk.

methodsIn this study, latent growth curve analysis was applied to serial cervical length measurements across pregnancy (median per subject = 6; IQR = 3-8) to quantify characteristics of cervical change in a cohort of 5111 singleton pregnancies carried by Black American women.

resultsA conditional mediation model including nine common maternal risk factors of spontaneous preterm birth as exogenous predictors accounts for 26.5% of the variability in gestational duration. The collective evidence supports the conclusion that the effect of common maternal characteristics on spontaneous preterm birth is mediated through cervical length change. Specifically, previous preterm birth, pre-pregnancy BMI, parity, and previous abortion are shown to have unique influences on preterm birth risk that likely operate, in part, through linear changes in the cervix across pregnancy.

conclusionsThis study provides an account of the intermediary role of cervical dynamics in associations between known maternal risk factors and gestational age at delivery. Although these findings may not be generalizable to all populations, they have the potential to enhance screening efforts for women who are disproportionately affected by health disparities related to preterm birth.

Identifiers

PMID41398068
PMCPMC12830857

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.