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Comparative effectiveness of prophylactic strategies for preeclampsia: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

American journal of obstetrics and gynecology
May 1, 2023
Yuan-Hui Liu et al. (13 authors)
Journal ArticleReviewResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tNetwork Meta-AnalysisHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to compare the efficacy of calcium supplementation with other prophylactic strategies in preventing preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension in at-risk pregnant women.

Results Summary

Calcium supplementation was found to be effective in preventing preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension, with a relative risk reduction (0.71; 95% CI, 0.62-0.82) and a P score ranking of 74%. Its effects were robust across subgroups, though no significant differences were found between it and other effective strategies like aspirin, low-molecular-weight heparin, vitamin D, and exercise.

Population

Pregnant women at risk of preeclampsia.

Effective Dosage

Not specified in the abstract.

Duration

Not specified in the abstract.

Interactions

None mentioned.

Extracted Claims (17)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
Low-molecular-weight heparin
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.87
were as efficacious as calcium supplementation and aspirin in preventing
#1
Vitamin D supplementation
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.95
were as efficacious as calcium supplementation and aspirin in preventing
#2
Exercise
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.92
were as efficacious as calcium supplementation and aspirin in preventing
#3
Calcium supplementation
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.62-0.82
were as efficacious as low-molecular-weight heparin, vitamin D supplementation, and exercise in preventing
#4
Aspirin
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-0.86
were as efficacious as low-molecular-weight heparin, vitamin D supplementation, and exercise in preventing
#5
Exercise
decrease
pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
tended to be superior to aspirin and calcium supplementation in preventing
#6
Aspirin
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
prophylactic effects were robust across subgroups
#7
Calcium supplementation
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
prophylactic effects were robust across subgroups
#8
Low-molecular-weight heparin
decrease
preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
prophylactic effects varied with different risk populations, dosages, areas, etc.
#9
Exercise
decrease
preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
prophylactic effects varied with different risk populations, dosages, areas, etc.
#10
Vitamin D supplementation
decrease
preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
prophylactic effects varied with different risk populations, dosages, areas, etc.
#11
Low-molecular-weight heparin
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
reduce the risk of
#12
Vitamin D supplementation
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
reduce the risk of
#13
Exercise
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
reduce the risk of
#14
Calcium supplementation
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
reduce the risk of
#15
Aspirin
decrease
preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension
pregnant women at risk
-
reduce the risk of
#16
-
no change
preeclampsia
pregnant women at risk
-
No significant differences between effective prophylactic strategies were found in preventing
#17
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Preeclampsia is a common disease during pregnancy that leads to fetal and maternal adverse events. Few head-to-head clinical trials are currently comparing the effectiveness of prophylactic strategies for preeclampsia. In this network meta-analysis, we aimed to compare the efficacy of prophylactic strategies for preventing preeclampsia in pregnant women at risk. DATA SOURCES: Articles published in or before September 2021 from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov, references of key articles, and previous meta-analyses were manually searched. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials comparing prophylactic strategies preventing preeclampsia with each other or with negative controls were included. METHODS: Two reviewers independently extracted data, assessed the risk of bias, and assessed evidence certainty. The efficacy of prophylactic strategies was estimated by frequentist and Bayesian network meta-analysis models. The primary composite outcome was preeclampsia/ pregnancy-induced hypertension. RESULTS: In total, 130 trials with a total of 112,916 patients were included to assess 13 prophylactic strategies. Low-molecular-weight heparin (0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.42-0.87), vitamin D supplementation (0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.95), and exercise (0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.92) were as efficacious as calcium supplementation (0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.62-0.82) and aspirin (0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-0.86) in preventing preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension, with a P score ranking of 85%, 79%, 76%, 74%, and 61%, respectively. In the head-to-head comparison, no differences were found between these effective prophylactic strategies for preventing preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension, except with regard to exercise, which tended to be superior to aspirin and calcium supplementation in preventing pregnancy-induced hypertension. Furthermore, the prophylactic effects of aspirin and calcium supplementation were robust across subgroups. However, the prophylactic effects of low-molecular-weight heparin, exercise, and vitamin D supplementation on preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension varied with different risk populations, dosages, areas, etc. The certainty of the evidence was moderate to very low. CONCLUSION: Low-molecular-weight heparin, vitamin D supplementation, exercise, calcium supplementation, and aspirin reduce the risk of preeclampsia/pregnancy-induced hypertension. No significant differences between effective prophylactic strategies were found in preventing preeclampsia. These findings raise the necessity to reevaluate the prophylactic effects of low-molecular-weight heparin, vitamin D supplementation, and exercise on preeclampsia.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
PregnancyHumansFemalePre-EclampsiaHypertension, Pregnancy-InducedCalciumBayes TheoremRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicAspirinHeparin, Low-Molecular-WeightVitamin D
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy74/10
Quality85/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations23
Citations/Year11.5
Relative Citation Ratio7.50
NIH Percentile96.4%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.75
Weight Score3.11
Normalized Score0.67
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