IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2015.302902_4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global birth prevalence of spina bifida by folic acid fortification status: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Atta, C.A.M.
  • Fiest, K.M.
  • Frolkis, A.D.
  • Jette, N.
  • Pringsheim, T.
  • St Germaine-Smith, C.
  • Rajapakse, T.
  • Kaplan, G.G.
  • Metcalfe, A.

Abstract

Background. Birth defects remain a significant source of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Strong scientific evidence shows that folic acid fortification of a region's food supply leads to a decrease in spina bifida (a birth defect of the spine). Still, many countries around the world have yet to approve mandatory fortification through government legislation. Objectives. Wesought to performa systematic reviewandmeta-analysis of period prevalence of spina bifida by folic acid fortification status, geographic region, and study population. Search methods. An expert research librarian used terms related to neural tube defects and epidemiology from primary research from 1985 to 2010 to search in EMBASE and MEDLINE. We searched the reference lists of included articles and key review articles identified by experts. Selection criteria. Inclusion criteria included studies in English or French reporting on prevalence published between January 1985 and December 2010 that (1) were primary research, (2) were population-based, and (3) reported a point or period prevalence estimate of spina bifida (i.e., prevalence estimate with confidence intervals or case numerator and population denominator). Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts for eligible articles, then2authorsscreenedfull texts induplicate forfinal inclusion. Disagreements were resolved through consensus or a third party. Data collection and analysis. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, or PRISMA, abstracting data related to case ascertainment, study population, folic acid fortification status, geographic region, and prevalence estimate independently and in duplicate. We extracted overall data and any subgroups reported by age, gender, time period, or type of spina bifida. We classified each period prevalence estimate as mandatory or voluntary folic acid fortification according to each country's folic acid fortification status at the time data were collected (as determined by a well-recognized fortification monitoring body, Food Fortification Initiative).We determined study quality on the basis of sample representativeness, standardization of data collection and birth defect assessment, and statistical analyses. We analyzed study-level period prevalence estimates by using a random effects model (a level of

Suggested Citation

  • Atta, C.A.M. & Fiest, K.M. & Frolkis, A.D. & Jette, N. & Pringsheim, T. & St Germaine-Smith, C. & Rajapakse, T. & Kaplan, G.G. & Metcalfe, A., 2016. "Global birth prevalence of spina bifida by folic acid fortification status: A systematic review and meta-analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(1), pages 24-34.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302902_4
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302902
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302902
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302902?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eija Häyrynen, Dr. & Kaarina Määttä, Prof. Dr. & Satu Uusiautti, Prof. Dr., 2018. "“Let’s let the students do by themselves” How to activate students with severe physical disability in the classroom?," Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), , vol. 7(1), pages 28-41, January.
    2. Jung-Keun Ko & Dirga Kumar Lamichhane & Hwan-Cheol Kim & Jong-Han Leem, 2018. "Trends in the Prevalences of Selected Birth Defects in Korea (2008–2014)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302902_4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.