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Perinatal prevalence of birth defects in the Mainland of China, 2000–2021: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Background

Although birth defects are of great concern globally, the latest national prevalence has not yet been quantified in China. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the perinatal prevalence of birth defects in the Mainland of China between 2000 and 2021.

Methods

We performed a systematic literature search of six databases for relevant articles published between January 1, 2000, and March 1, 2023. We included published studies that reported data on the perinatal prevalence of birth defects in the Mainland of China. The DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models were used to estimate the pooled prevalence and its 95% confidence interval (CI). We also conducted subgroup analyses and univariable meta-regressions to explore differences in prevalence by time period, geographic region, and other characteristics.

Results

We included 254 studies reporting the perinatal prevalence of birth defects and 86 studies reporting only the prevalence of specific types of birth defects. Based on 254 studies covering 74,307,037 perinatal births and 985,115 cases with birth defects, the pooled perinatal prevalence of birth defects was 122.54 (95% CI 116.20–128.89) per 10,000 perinatal births in the Mainland of China during 2000–2021. Overall, the perinatal prevalence of birth defects increased from 95.60 (86.51–104.69) per 10,000 in 2000–2004 to 208.94 (175.67–242.22) per 10,000 in 2020–2021. There were also significant disparities among different geographical regions. Congenital heart defects (33.35 per 10,000), clefts of the lip and/or palate (13.52 per 10,000), polydactyly (12.82 per 10,000), neural tube defects (12.82 per 10,000), and inborn errors of metabolism (11.41 per 10,000) were the five most common types of birth defects. The perinatal prevalence among males was significantly higher than that among females (β = 2.44 × 10−3, P = 0.003); a higher perinatal prevalence of birth defects was observed among perinatal births whose mothers were ≥ 35 years (β = 4.34 × 10−3, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Comprehensive and sustained efforts are needed to strengthen surveillance and detection of birth defects, improve prenatal and postnatal healthcare, and promote rehabilitation, especially in underdeveloped areas.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the support from the Department of Maternal and Child Health, National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China.

Funding

This study was supported by the Department of Maternal and Child Health, National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, No. 38, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China

    Liang-Yu Kang, Zi-Rui Guo, Wei-Jing Shang, Gui-Ying Cao & Min Liu

  2. Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, No. 1, Tsinghua Garden, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, China

    Liang-Yu Kang & Wan-Nian Liang

  3. Department of Maternal and Child Health, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, No. 1, Xizhimenwai South Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, China

    Yi-Ping Zhang, Qiao-Mei Wang & Hai-Ping Shen

  4. Institute of Healthy China, Tsinghua University, No. 1, Tsinghua Garden, Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, China

    Wan-Nian Liang

  5. Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (Peking University), Ministry of Education Beijing, No. 38, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China

    Min Liu

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Contributions

LWN, LM: conceptualization, supervision, writing–review and editing. KLY: data curation, formal analysis, writing–original draft. GZR, SWJ: data curation, formal analysis. CGY, ZYP, WQM, SHP: supervision, methodology. LWN and LM contributed equally as co-corresponding authors.

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Correspondence to Wan-Nian Liang or Min Liu.

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Kang, LY., Guo, ZR., Shang, WJ. et al. Perinatal prevalence of birth defects in the Mainland of China, 2000–2021: a systematic review and meta-analysis. World J Pediatr (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-023-00786-8

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