Dataset Information

Early antenatal care: does it make a difference to outcomes of pregnancy associated with syphilis? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Despite an increase in the proportion of women who access antenatal care, mother-to-child transmission of syphilis continues to be a consequence of undiagnosed, untreated, or inadequately treated maternal syphilis. We reviewed evidence on the optimal timing of antenatal interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and its associated adverse outcomes.

Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. English-language articles were included if they (1) reported the gestational age at which the mother was screened or tested for syphilis; (2) reported on pregnancy outcome. No publication date limits were set.

Results

We identified a total of 1,199 publications, of which 84 were selected for further review and five were included. All showed a lower prevalence of any adverse outcome among women who received an intervention (to include screening and treatment) in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy compared to the third trimester. The overall odds ratio for any adverse outcome was 2.24 (95% CI 1.28, 3.93). All sub-analyses by type of outcome presented important heterogeneity between studies, except for those studies reporting an infected infant (odds ratio 2.92, 95% CI 0.66, 12.87; I(2)?=?48.2%, p?=?0.165).

Conclusions

Our review has shown that the timing of antenatal care interventions makes a significant difference in the risk of having an adverse outcome due to syphilis. Women who sought care in the first two trimesters of their pregnancy, and received the appropriate intervention, were more likely to have a healthy infant, compared to women screened and treated in the third trimester. Encouraging ALL pregnant women to seek care in the first two trimesters of their pregnancy should be a priority for health programmes. For interventions to be effective within these health programmes, health systems and community engagement programmes need to be strengthened to enable pregnant women to seek antenatal care early.

SUBMITTER: Hawkes SJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3585307 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Early antenatal care: does it make a difference to outcomes of pregnancy associated with syphilis? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Hawkes Sarah J SJ Gomez Gabriela B GB Broutet Nathalie N

PloS one 20130228 2

<h4>Objective</h4>Despite an increase in the proportion of women who access antenatal care, mother-to-child transmission of syphilis continues to be a consequence of undiagnosed, untreated, or inadequately treated maternal syphilis. We reviewed evidence on the optimal timing of antenatal interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and its associated adverse outcomes.<h4>Design</h4>Systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. English-language articles were in ...[more]

PMID: 23468875

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Project description:BackgroundMother-to-child transmission of syphilis remains a leading cause of neonatal death and stillbirth, disproportionally affecting women in low-resource settings where syphilis prevalence rates are high and testing rates low. Recently developed syphilis point-of-care tests (POCTs) are promising alternatives to conventional laboratory screening in low-resource settings as they do not require a laboratory setting, intensive technical training and yield results in 10-15 minutes thereby enabling both diagnosis and treatment in a single visit. Aim of this review was to provide clarity on the benefits of different POCTs and assess whether the implementation of syphilis POCTs is associated with decreased numbers of syphilis-related adverse pregnancy outcomes.MethodsFollowing the PRISMA guidelines, three electronic databases (PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Cochrane) were systematically searched for intervention studies and cost-effectiveness analyses investigating the association between antenatal syphilis POCT and pregnancy outcomes such as congenital syphilis, low birth weight, prematurity, miscarriage, stillbirth as well as perinatal, fetal or infant death.ResultsNine out of 278 initially identified articles were included, consisting of two clinical studies and seven modelling studies. Studies compared the effect on pregnancy outcomes of treponemal POCT, non-treponemal POCT and dual POCT to laboratory screening and no screening program. Based on the clinical studies, significantly higher testing and treatment rates, as well as a significant reduction (93%) in adverse pregnancy outcomes was reported for treponemal POCT compared to laboratory screening. Compared to no screening and laboratory screening, modelling studies assumed higher treatment rates for POCT and predicted the most prevented adverse pregnancy outcomes for treponemal POCT, followed by a dual treponemal and non-treponemal POCT strategy.ConclusionImplementation of treponemal POCT in low-resource settings increases syphilis testing and treatment rates and prevents the most syphilis-related adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to no screening, laboratory screening, non-treponemal POCT and dual POCT. Regarding the benefits of dual POCT, more research is needed. Overall, this review provides evidence on the contribution of treponemal POCT to healthier pregnancies and contributes greater clarity on the impact of diverse diagnostic methods available for the detection of syphilis.

Project description:BackgroundThe primary aim of this study was to examine weight gain during pregnancy and associated adverse outcomes across different types of antenatal health care providers. Our research question examined whether type of antenatal health care provider (family physician, obstetrician, midwife, or family physician plus obstetrician) was associated with differing rates of excess or inadequate weight gain and associated adverse outcomes including being large for gestational age, being small for gestational age, cesarean delivery and preterm birth.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study used data from the Better Outcomes Registry & Network Information System, 2014-2016, for singleton hospital births at 20-42 weeks' gestation in Ontario. We calculated descriptive statistics to summarize patient characteristics and outcomes by antenatal health care provider. We calculated crude and adjusted relative risks with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the exposure (weight gain during pregnancy) relative to each secondary outcome by health care provider. We calculated population attributable fractions with 95% CIs to assess the proportion of secondary outcomes that could be prevented if inadequate or excess weight gain (according to the 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines) were removed by health care provider.ResultsThe final cohort consisted of 231 697 pregnancies, of which 26 043 (11.2%), 136 994 (59.1%), 32 262 (13.9%) and 36 298 (15.7%) were managed by a family physician, obstetrician, midwife, and family physician plus obstetrician, respectively. Rates of weight gain below, within or above recommended levels were 31 742 (13.7%), 71 826 (31.0%) and 128 128 (55.3%), respectively, and did not differ across health care provider groups. No difference was observed in rates of secondary outcomes according to weight gain across health care providers. Excess weight gain was associated with a significant risk of being large for gestational age and cesarean delivery, and inadequate weight gain was associated with an increased risk of being small for gestational age and preterm birth. The population attributable fractions indicated a pronounced contribution of excess weight gain to being large for gestational age across all health care provider groups.InterpretationWeight gain during pregnancy and rates of associated secondary outcomes did not differ according to antenatal health care provider. This suggests a need for further research exploring counselling techniques and strategies for all types of antenatal health care providers to use in order to promote optimal weight gain during pregnancy.

Project description:BackgroundThe World Health Organization initiative to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of syphilis aims for ? 90% of pregnant women to be tested for syphilis and ? 90% to receive treatment by 2015. We calculated global and regional estimates of syphilis in pregnancy and associated adverse outcomes for 2008, as well as antenatal care (ANC) coverage for women with syphilis.Methods and findingsEstimates were based upon a health service delivery model. National syphilis seropositivity data from 97 of 193 countries and ANC coverage from 147 countries were obtained from World Health Organization databases. Proportions of adverse outcomes and effectiveness of screening and treatment were from published literature. Regional estimates of ANC syphilis testing and treatment were examined through sensitivity analysis. In 2008, approximately 1.36 million (range: 1.16 to 1.56 million) pregnant women globally were estimated to have probable active syphilis; of these, 80% had attended ANC. Globally, 520,905 (best case: 425,847; worst case: 615,963) adverse outcomes were estimated to be caused by maternal syphilis, including approximately 212,327 (174,938; 249,716) stillbirths (>28 wk) or early fetal deaths (22 to 28 wk), 91,764 (76,141; 107,397) neonatal deaths, 65,267 (56,929; 73,605) preterm or low birth weight infants, and 151,547 (117,848; 185,245) infected newborns. Approximately 66% of adverse outcomes occurred in ANC attendees who were not tested or were not treated for syphilis. In 2008, based on the middle case scenario, clinical services likely averted 26% of all adverse outcomes. Limitations include missing syphilis seropositivity data for many countries in Europe, the Mediterranean, and North America, and use of estimates for the proportion of syphilis that was "probable active," and for testing and treatment coverage.ConclusionsSyphilis continues to affect large numbers of pregnant women, causing substantial perinatal morbidity and mortality that could be prevented by early testing and treatment. In this analysis, most adverse outcomes occurred among women who attended ANC but were not tested or treated for syphilis, highlighting the need to improve the quality of ANC as well as ANC coverage. In addition, improved ANC data on syphilis testing coverage, positivity, and treatment are needed. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.

Project description:BackgroundTo estimate probability of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) among women with and without syphilis through a systematic review of published literatures.Methodology/principal findingsChinese and English literatures were searched for studies assessing pregnancy outcomes in the presence of maternal syphilis through August 2013. The prevalence estimates were summarized and analyzed by meta-analysis. Fifty-four literatures involving 11398 syphilitic women and 43342 non-syphilitic women were included from 4187 records initially found. Among untreated mothers with syphilis, pooled estimates were 76.8% for all APOs, 36.0% for congenital syphilis, 23.2% for preterm, 23.4% for low birth weight, 26.4% for stillbirth or fetal loss, 14.9% for miscarriage and 16.2% for neonatal deaths. Among syphilitic mother receiving treatment only in the late trimester (>28 weeks), pooled estimates were 64.4% for APOs, 40.6% for congenital syphilis, 17.6% for preterm, 12.4% for low birth weight, and 21.3% for stillbirth or fetal loss. Among syphilitic mothers with high titers (?1?8), pooled estimates were 42.8% for all APOs, 25.8% for congenital syphilis, 15.1% for preterm, 9.4% for low birth weight, 14.6% for stillbirth or fetal loss and 16.0% for neonatal deaths. Among non-syphilitic mothers, the pooled estimates were 13.7% for all APOs, 7.2% for preterm birth, 4.5% for low birth weight, 3.7% for stillbirth or fetal loss, 2.3% for miscarriage and 2.0% for neonatal death. Begg's rank correlation test indicated little evidence of publication bias (P>0.10). Substantial heterogeneity was found across studies in the estimates of all adverse outcomes for both women with syphilis (I2?=?93.9%; P<0.0001) and women without syphilis (I2?=?94.8%; P<0.0001).Conclusions/significanceSyphilis continues to be an important cause of substantial perinatal morbidity and mortality, which reminds that policy-makers charged with resource allocation that the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis is a public health priority.

Project description:BackgroundNeonatal mortality is one of the major public health problems throughout the world and most notably in developing countries. There exist inconclusive findings on the effect of antenatal care visits on neonatal death worldwide. Thus, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to reveal the pooled effect of antenatal care visits on neonatal death.MethodsThe present systematic review and meta-analysis was performed using published literature, which was accessed from national and international databases such as, Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Central library, Google Scholar, and HINARI. STATA/SE for windows version 13 software was used to calculate the pooled effect size with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of maternal antenatal care visits on neonatal death using the DerSimonian and Laird random effects meta-analysis (random effects model), and results were displayed using forest plot. Statistical heterogeneity was checked using the Cochran Q test (chi-squared statistic) and I2 test statistic and by visual examination of the forest plot.ResultsA total of 18 studies, which fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were included in the present systematic review and meta-analysis. The finding of the present systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that antenatal care visits decrease the risk of neonatal mortality [pooled effect size 0.66 (95% CI, 0.54, 0.80)]. Cochrane Q test (P?<?0.001) revealed no significant heterogeneity among included studies, but I2 statistic revealed sizeable heterogeneity up to 80.5% (I2?=?80.5%). In the present meta-analysis traditional funnel plot, Egger’s weighted regression (P?=?0.48) as well as Begg’s rank correlation statistic (P?=?0.47) revealed no evidence of publication bias.ConclusionsThe present systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that antenatal care visits were significantly associated with lower rates of neonatal death. The risk of neonatal death was significantly reduced by 34% among newborns delivered from mothers who had antenatal care visits. Thus, visiting antenatal care clinics during pregnancy is strongly recommended especially in resource-limited settings like countries of sub-Saharan Africa.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40985-018-0110-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Project description:BackgroundHow can we explain the uneven decline of syphilis around the world following the introduction of penicillin? In this paper we use antenatal syphilis prevalence (ASP) to investigate how syphilis prevalence varied worldwide in the past century, and what risk factors correlate with this variance.Methods1) A systematic review using PubMed and Google Scholar was conducted to identify countries with published data relating to ASP estimates from before 1952 until the present. Eleven countries were identified (Canada, Denmark, Finland, India, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK) and Zimbabwe). The ASP epidemic curve for each population was depicted graphically. In South Africa and the USA, results are reported separately for the black and white populations. 2) National antenatal syphilis prevalence estimates for 1990 to 1999 and 2008 were taken from an Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation database on the prevalence of syphilis in low risk populations compiled for the Global Burden of Diseases study and from a recent review paper respectively. National ASPs were depicted graphically and regional median ASPs were calculated for both time periods. 3) Linear regression was used to test for an association between ASP in 1990-1999 and 2008 and four risk factors (efficacy of syphilis screening/treatment, health expenditure, GDP per capita and circumcision prevalence). WHO world regions were included as potential explanatory variables.ResultsIn most populations, ASP dropped to under 1% before 1960. In Zimbabwe and black South Africans, ASP was high in the pre-penicillin period, dropped in the post-penicillin period, but then plateaued at around 6% until the end of the 20th century when ASP dropped to just above 1%. In black Americans, ASP declined in the post penicillin period, but plateaued at 3-5% thereafter. ASP was statistically significantly higher in sub-Saharan Africa in 1990-1999 and 2008 than in the other world regions (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis in both time periods, ASP was only associated with residence in sub-Saharan Africa.ConclusionsFurther research is necessary to elucidate the reasons for the higher prevalence of syphilis in sub-Saharan Africa.

Project description:BackgroundAntenatal care is one of the continua of reproductive health care, and inadequate antenatal care utilization results in an adverse feto-maternal outcome. Pregnancy intention is an essential factor that plays a paramount role on timing of antenatal care service. The finding of a few studies conducted on the association between pregnancy intention and late initiation of ANC among pregnant women in Ethiopia presented inconclusive. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the pooled estimate of the association between pregnancy intention and late initiation of ANC among pregnant women in Ethiopia.MethodsBoth published and unpublished studies were accessed through electronic search from databases such as MEDLINE, Scopes, PubMed, CINAHL, PopLine, MedNar, Cochrane library, the JBI Library, the Web of Science, and Google Scholar. All observational studies that were conducted on the association between pregnancy intention and late initiation of ANC among pregnant women in Ethiopia were included. STATA 14.1 version was used for data analysis. A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled estimate with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The Cochrane Q test statistic and I2 tests were used to assess heterogeneity. Presence of publication bias was checked by funnel plots and Egger's statistical tests.ResultsA total of 670 published and unpublished studies were identified from several databases and fourteen studies fulfilled inclusion criteria and included in the meta-analysis. The overall pooled estimate indicates the odds of late initiation of antenatal care were 2.16 times higher among pregnant women who had unintended pregnancy as compared to pregnant women who had intended pregnancy (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.62, 2.88).ConclusionThe systematic review and meta-analysis found a statistically significant effect of pregnancy intention on late initiation of antenatal care among pregnant women in Ethiopia. Increased effort should be made to improve women's behavior towards contraceptive use through health education and counseling, especially those with unintended pregnancies. Furthermore, health education, counseling, and communication campaigns related to the timing of ANC and frequency should be promoted nationally.

Dataset Information

Early antenatal care: does it make a difference to outcomes of pregnancy associated with syphilis? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective

Design

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Early antenatal care: does it make a difference to outcomes of pregnancy associated with syphilis? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Similar Datasets

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