Being born too early is one of the leading causes of neonatal death and under-five mortality and morbidity, with lifelong consequences. Children born prematurely have increased risks of cognitive problems, behavioural problems and cerebral palsy than those born at full term. They are more likely to experience hospital admission due to infection, particularly during infancy. For parents, the financial, social and emotional effects are devastating.
The majority of PTBs occur in low/ middle-income countries (LMICs). The burden of preterm birth therefore falls more heavily on countries with fewer resources to manage the medical, social and economic complexities of caring for premature infants.
The reasons for preterm birth are complex and poorly understood, and risk factors include a range of social, environmental and physiological factors. A range of interventions are used to reduce the risk of preterm birth, however there is a lack of good evidence to support the use of many of these.
In order to support a programme of research to better understand preterm birth, its causes and effective interventions in low income settings we undertook a scoping review to explore the range of interventions developed to reduce the risk of preterm birth. We specifically wanted to look at the evidence of what works in low income settings.
The presentation will show our findings and consider how we deal with contextual relevance when applying research findings to very different settings.
Dr. Fiona Campbell is a Senior Lecturer in Evidence Synthesis at Newcastle University, UK. She has 20 years’ experience in evidence synthesis and has been involved with the conduct and publication of reviews for the WHO, NICE (National Institute of Health and Social Care), and the Cochrane Collaboration. She is the editor and founder of the Campbell Collaboration Children and Young Persons Wellbeing Coordinating Group. Her work has been used to inform guidance for treatments for hypertension, obesity, excessive alcohol use, hospital errors and approaches to increasing levels of physical activity and pandemic preparedness in low-income settings. She has designed, led and published work on methodological aspects of systematic reviewing and teaches systematic review methodology to postgraduate students. She is an invited speaker and advisor on methods of evidence synthesis. She has a clinical background in oncology nursing, district nursing and health visiting and has worked in this capacity both in the UK and developing country settings.