
Neighborhood Deprivation and Risk of Congenital Heart Defects, Neural Tube Defects and Orofacial Clefts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Author(s) -
Séverine Deguen,
Wahida Kihal,
Maxime Jeanjean,
Cindy Padilla,
Denis ZmirouNavier
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0159039
Subject(s) - meta analysis , medicine , odds ratio , socioeconomic status , study heterogeneity , cohort study , cohort , epidemiology , case control study , pediatrics , demography , population , environmental health , sociology
Background We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to address the open question of a possible association between the socioeconomic level of the neighborhoods in which pregnant women live and the risk of Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs), Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) and OroFacial Clefts (OFCs). Methods We searched MEDLINE from its inception to December 20 th , 2015 for case-control, cohort and ecological studies assessing the association between neighborhood socioeconomic level and the risk of CHDs, NTDs and the specific phenotypes Cleft Lip with or without Cleft Palate (CLP) and Cleft Palate (CP). Study-specific risk estimates were pooled according to random-effect and fixed-effect models. Results Out of 245 references, a total of seven case-control studies, two cohort studies and two ecological studies were assessed in the systematic review; all studies were enrolled in the meta-analysis with the exception of the two cohort studies. No significant association has been revealed between CHDs or NTDs and neighborhood deprivation index. For CLP phenotype subgroups, we found a significantly higher rate in deprived neighborhoods (Odds Ratios (OR) = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.36) whereas this was not significant for CP phenotype subgroups (OR = 1.20, 95%CI: 0.89, 1.61). Conclusion In spite of the small number of epidemiological studies included in the present literature review, our findings suggest that neighborhood socioeconomic level where mothers live is associated only with an increased risk of CLP phenotype subgroups. This finding has methodological limitations that impede the formulation of firm conclusions, and further investigations should confirm this association.