Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27677312›Full record

ArticleBMC medicine2016

Birth weight in relation to health and disease in later life: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Lazaros Belbasis, Makrina D Savvidou, Chidimma Kanu, Evangelos Evangelou, Ioanna Tzoulaki

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 124 papers, 26 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
124citing papers in PubMed, 26 pooled it
32.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

124 citing papers in PubMed, 26 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 239 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Physical Activity during Pregnancy and Newborn Body Composition: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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  7. Shift work and health outcomes: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of epidemiological studies.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2022
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  11. An umbrella review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses evaluating positive and negative outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine therapy.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021
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64 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Lazaros BelbasisDepartment of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
Makrina D SavvidouAcademic Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Chidimma KanuAcademic Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Evangelos EvangelouDepartment of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
Ioanna TzoulakiDepartment of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece. i.tzoulaki@imperial.ac.uk.
Imperial College London · GBChelsea and Westminster Hospital · GBUniversity of Ioannina · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBirth weight, a marker of the intrauterine environment, has been extensively studied in epidemiological research in relation to subsequent health and disease. Although numerous meta-analyses have been published examining the association between birth weight and subsequent health-related outcomes, the epidemiological credibility of these associations has not been thoroughly assessed. The objective of this study is to map the diverse health outcomes associated with birth weight and evaluate the credibility and presence of biases in the reported associations.

methodsAn umbrella review was performed to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies investigating the association between birth weight and subsequent health outcomes and traits. For each association, we estimated the summary effect size by random-effects and fixed-effects models, the 95 % confidence interval, and the 95 % prediction interval. We also assessed the between-study heterogeneity, evidence for small-study effects and excess significance bias. We further applied standardized methodological criteria to evaluate the epidemiological credibility of the statistically significant associations.

resultsThirty-nine articles including 78 associations between birth weight and diverse outcomes met the eligibility criteria. A wide range of health outcomes has been studied, ranging from anthropometry and metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular risk factors, various cancers, respiratory diseases and allergies, musculoskeletal traits and perinatal outcomes. Forty-seven of 78 associations presented a nominally significant summary effect and 21 associations remained statistically significant at P < 1 × 10

conclusionsThe range of outcomes convincingly associated with birth weight might be narrower than originally described under the "fetal origin hypothesis" of disease. There is weak evidence that birth weight constitutes an effective public health intervention marker.

Indexed as

BiasBirth weightEpidemiological credibilityMeta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID27677312
PMCPMC5039803
OpenAlexW2523853873

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.