Associations of COVID-19 lockdown with gestational length and preterm birth in China

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Yanyun Lv¹  Xiaoyang Luo²  Jingjie Fan³  Tao Liu⁴  Wenjun Ma⁴  Eve Reid⁵  Brian Win⁵  Xiaozhong Wen⁵  Qingmei Lin⁶  Jianpeng Xiao⁷  Guanhao He⁷  Jianxiong Hu⁷  Moran Dong⁸  Hanwei Chen⁹  Yufeng Ye⁹  Shouzhen Cheng^1,10  Yumeng Chen^1,11  Jiaqi Wang^1,11  He Zhou^1,11  Juan Jin^1,11  Guimin Chen^1,12  Zhongrong He^1,13  Yudong Pu^1,14  Rui Qian^1,15  Suijin Zheng^1,16 

[1]Affiliated Jiangmen Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 529030, Jiangmen, China

[2]Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, 510000, Guangzhou, China

[3]Department of Prevention and Health Care, Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, 518028, Shenzhen, China

[4]Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, No.601 West, Huangpu Road, Tianhe District, 510632, Guangzhou, China

[5]Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 14214, Buffalo, NY, USA

[6]Foshan Women and Children Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University, 528000, Foshan, China

[7]Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 511430, Guangzhou, China

[8]Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 511430, Guangzhou, China

[9]School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, 510515, Guangzhou, China

[10]Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital, 511400, Guangzhou, China

[11]Nursing Department, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 510080, Guangzhou, China

[12]School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 510080, Guangzhou, China

[13]School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, 510515, Guangzhou, China

[14]School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 510080, Guangzhou, China

[15]Songshan Lake Central Hospital of Dongguan City, 523808, Dongguan, China

[16]Statistical Information Center for Health and Family Planning Bureau of Foshan, 528000, Foshan, China

[17]The Affiliated Houjie Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, 523945, Dongguan, China

关键词: COVID-19;    Lockdown;    Gestational length;    Preterm;    China;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12884-021-04268-5

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures on maternal and fetal health remain unclear. We examined the associations of COVID-19 lockdown with gestational length and preterm birth (PTB) in a Chinese population.MethodsWe obtained medical records of 595,396 singleton live infants born between 2015 and 2020 in 5 cities in Guangdong Province, South China. The exposed group (N = 101,900) included women who experienced the COVID-19 Level I lockdown (1/23–2/24/2020) during pregnancy, while the unexposed group (N = 493,496) included women who were pregnant during the same calendar months in 2015–2019. Cumulative exposure was calculated based on days exposed to different levels of emergency responses with different weighting. Generalized linear regression models were applied to estimate the associations of lockdown exposure with gestational length and risk of PTB (< 37 weeks).ResultsThe exposed group had a shorter mean gestational length than the unexposed group (38.66 vs 38.74 weeks: adjusted β = − 0.06 week [95%CI, − 0.07, − 0.05 week]). The exposed group also had a higher risk of PTB (5.7% vs 5.3%; adjusted OR = 1.08 [95%CI, 1.05, 1.11]). These associations seemed to be stronger when exposure occurred before or during the 23rd gestational week (GW) than during or after the 24th GW. Similarly, higher cumulative lockdown exposure was associated with a shorter gestational length and a higher risk of PTB.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 lockdown measures were associated with a slightly shorter gestational length and a moderately higher risk of PTB. Early and middle pregnancy periods may be a more susceptible exposure window.

【 授权许可】

CC BY