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Epidemiology
Protocol
Interpregnancy weight change and risks of stillbirth and infant mortality: a protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis
  1. Yu Tang1,
  2. Nabil Islam2,
  3. Rong Luo3,4,
  4. Shi Wu Wen3,4,
  5. Yanfang Guo3,4
  1. 1School of Clinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China
  2. 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  3. 3OMNI Research Group, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  4. 4School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Dr Yanfang Guo; yguo{at}ohri.ca

Abstract

Introduction Interpregnancy weight change may impact two important adverse perinatal outcomes: stillbirth and infant mortality. This systematic review aims to synthesise the existing evidence on the association between interpregnancy weight change and stillbirth and infant mortality.

Methods and analysis This systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Protocols guidelines and has been registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). A comprehensive literature search of four online databases (Embase, Cochrane Libraries, Web of Science and Medline) will be conducted from inception to October 2023. Observational (longitudinal, cohort, case–control) and randomised controlled trials will be included. Interpregnancy weight/body mass index change between two consecutive pregnancies will be the exposure. The primary outcomes will be the incidence of stillbirth and infant mortality in subsequent pregnancy. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool will be used to assess the risk of bias in the randomised controlled studies and the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomised Studies of Interventions tool will be used for observational studies. If there are sufficient data, a meta-analysis will be conducted to estimate the pooled effect size. Otherwise, qualitative descriptions of individual studies will be summarised. The heterogeneity will be statistically assessed using a χ2 test and I2 statistic.

Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval is not required for this study as all results will be based on published papers. No primary data collection will be needed. Study findings will be presented at scientific conferences or published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Trial registration number A registration for this review has been submitted to PROSPERO under CRD42020222977.

  • epidemiology
  • perinatology
  • body mass index
  • maternal medicine
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080757

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    Footnotes

    • SWW and YG contributed equally.

    • Contributors YG and SWW were involved in conception of the study. The protocol was drafted by YT and NI. YG and SWW provided general guidance and critically revised the protocol. The search strategies and analysis methods were developed by YT, NI and RL, with help from YG.

    • Funding This work was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant (Number FDN-148438).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.