TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on perinatal outcomes in the Netherlands
AU - Burgos-Ochoa, Lizbeth
AU - Bertens, Loes Cm
AU - PREPARE-consortium
AU - Boderie, Nienke W
AU - Gravesteijn, Benjamin Y
AU - Obermann-Borst, Sylvia
AU - Rosman, Ageeth
AU - Struijs, Jeroen
AU - Labrecque, Jeremy
AU - de Groot, Christianne J
AU - Been, Jasper V
N1 - Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/11
Y1 - 2024/11
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Investigate the acute impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures implemented in March 2020 on a comprehensive range of perinatal outcomes.STUDY DESIGN: National registry-based quasi-experimental study.METHODS: We obtained data from the Dutch Perinatal Registry (2010-2020) which was linked to multiple population registries containing sociodemographic variables. A difference-in-discontinuity approach was used to examine the impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on various perinatal outcomes. We investigated preterm birth incidence across onset types, alongside other perinatal outcomes including low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age, NICU admission, low-APGAR-score, perinatal mortality, neonatal death, and stillbirths.RESULTS: The analysis of the national-level dataset revealed a consistent pattern of reduced preterm births after the enactment of COVID-19 mitigation measures on March 9, 2020 (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.68-0.96). A drop in spontaneous preterm births post-implementation was observed (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.62-0.98), whereas no change was observed for iatrogenic births. Regarding stillbirths (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.46-1.95) our analysis did not find compelling evidence of substantial changes. For the remaining outcomes, no discernible shifts were observed.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the reduction in preterm births following COVID-19 mitigation measures in the Netherlands. No discernible changes were observed for other outcomes, including stillbirths. Our results challenge previous concerns of a potential increase in stillbirths contributing to the drop in preterm births, suggesting alternative mechanisms.
AB - OBJECTIVE: Investigate the acute impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures implemented in March 2020 on a comprehensive range of perinatal outcomes.STUDY DESIGN: National registry-based quasi-experimental study.METHODS: We obtained data from the Dutch Perinatal Registry (2010-2020) which was linked to multiple population registries containing sociodemographic variables. A difference-in-discontinuity approach was used to examine the impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on various perinatal outcomes. We investigated preterm birth incidence across onset types, alongside other perinatal outcomes including low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age, NICU admission, low-APGAR-score, perinatal mortality, neonatal death, and stillbirths.RESULTS: The analysis of the national-level dataset revealed a consistent pattern of reduced preterm births after the enactment of COVID-19 mitigation measures on March 9, 2020 (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.68-0.96). A drop in spontaneous preterm births post-implementation was observed (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.62-0.98), whereas no change was observed for iatrogenic births. Regarding stillbirths (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.46-1.95) our analysis did not find compelling evidence of substantial changes. For the remaining outcomes, no discernible shifts were observed.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the reduction in preterm births following COVID-19 mitigation measures in the Netherlands. No discernible changes were observed for other outcomes, including stillbirths. Our results challenge previous concerns of a potential increase in stillbirths contributing to the drop in preterm births, suggesting alternative mechanisms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85204049529&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.puhe.2024.09.002
DO - 10.1016/j.puhe.2024.09.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 39299086
SN - 0033-3506
VL - 236
SP - 322
EP - 327
JO - Public Health
JF - Public Health
ER -