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Published on: January 12, 2018
Preterm birth among Pacific Islander women and related perinatal outcomes: a scoping review protocol
Bohao Wu1, Kendall J Arslanian2, Kate Nyhan3,4
1Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Insights
Preterm birth affects 10.6% globally, with limited data on Pacific Islanders. This review identifies risk factors, outcomes, and interventions to reduce preterm birth in this population.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Maternal-Child Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Preterm birth (<37 weeks) is a leading cause of under-5 mortality globally.
- Global incidence was 10.6% in 2014, disproportionately affecting minority populations.
- Knowledge gaps exist regarding preterm birth incidence and outcomes among Pacific Islanders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a scoping review on preterm birth among Pacific Islanders.
- Identify risk factors, maternal-child health outcomes, and interventions.
- Summarize barriers and facilitators to reduce preterm birth burden.
Main Methods:
- Adherence to Joanna Briggs Institute Manual and PRISMA-ScR guidelines.
- Comprehensive literature search across multiple databases including regional journals.
- Data management and consensus review using Covidence; evidence mapping for outcome presentation.
Main Results:
- This section is to be populated upon study completion.
Conclusions:
- Findings will inform future data collection and study designs.
- Aim to decrease the burden of preterm birth in Pacific Islander populations.
- Protocol dissemination planned for peer-reviewed journals.
Introduction:
Infants born alive <37 weeks are classified as premature. The global estimate of preterm birth in 2014 was 10.6%, and it is the leading cause of death of children under the age of 5 years. Preterm birth disproportionately affects women of minority populations, yet knowledge about the incidence and associated outcomes among Pacific Islanders is limited. The objectives of this scoping review are to identify studies that describe risk factors, maternal-child health outcomes and existing interventions to prevent preterm birth among Pacific Islanders, and to summarise the barriers and facilitators to decrease the burden.
Methods And Analysis:
We will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis for scoping reviews and the Preferred Reporting Items for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) to conduct this scoping review. The Covidence web application will be used for data management and consensus review. We will search on MEDLINE ALL (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), Web of Science Core Collection (as licensed at Yale), the Cochrane Library, CINAHL (EBSCOhost) and two non-indexed regional journals (Pacific Journal of Reproductive Health and Pacific Health Dialog). Title-abstract and full-text screening of eligible studies will be performed by two authors, and data will be extracted by the first author. Outcomes extracted will be presented using evidence mapping.
Ethics And Dissemination:
Findings will drive suggestions for new data collection needed to fill knowledge gaps and improve future study designs to decrease the burden of preterm birth among Pacific Islanders. There are no ethical concerns. This protocol will be disseminated in related peer-reviewed journals.

