The effectiveness of preterm-birth prevention educational programs for high-risk women: a meta-analysis

To evaluate whether preterm-birth prevention educational programs are effective at reducing neonatal mortality, low birth weight (LBW), and preterm delivery.

DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE literature search of English-language studies was performed, supplemented by a bibliography search of original research and review articles to locate studies assessing preterm-birth prevention programs.

METHOD OF STUDY SELECTION: We identified 31 studies that reported results from trials evaluating preterm-birth prevention programs. From this group, only the six randomized controlled trials evaluating preterm-birth prevention education programs satisfied criteria of homogeneity to be included in a meta-analysis. One of these six studies was a subset of another study and was excluded except when reporting outcomes that were not included in the larger report.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two independent reviewers assessed study methodology and identified the following

LBW frequency, preterm birth frequency, neonatal survival, birth weight, gestational age at delivery, and preterm labor diagnosis rates. When data were combined using meta-analytic techniques, no significant benefits were found for preterm-birth education programs in preventing neonatal death (cumulative relative risk [RR] 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99-1.01), LBW rates (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.88-1.11), or preterm delivery rates (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.92-1.27). The only statistically significant effect of preterm birth education programs appears to be an increase in the frequency at which preterm labor is diagnosed (RR 1.71, 95% CI 1.41-2.08).

Preterm-birth prevention educational programs appear to have little benefit in reducing preterm birth and may result in an increased rate of diagnosis of preterm labor.