Green space and preterm birth: A systematic review study

Green space and preterm birth: A systematic review study
Nasim sadat pajohanfar ,^1,* Mohammad Miri ,² Saide Mehrabadi ,³ Roghaieh Rahmani ,⁴
1. MSc student of midwifery, Student Research Committee, Department of Midwifery, School of medical, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran
2. Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran
3. Department of Midwifery, Department of Midwifery, School of medical, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran
4. Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Department of Midwifery, School of medical, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran
Introduction: Introduction: The impact of the environment on reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes has been expressed in a number of epidemiological studies. Exposure to green space has been shown to improve health as well as improve fetal growth and reduce the risk of pregnancy complications. In the present study, we conducted a systematic review of all relevant studies with the aim of investigating the relationship between green space and preterm delivery.
Methods: Method: In this study, a review was conducted to obtain relevant studies from the English databases Pubmed, Scopus, Web of science and Persian databases Iran Medex, SID and Magiran with the English and Persian keywords green space and preterm birth with all possible search combinations.
Results: Results: Out of 6964 articles, 14 articles (10 cross-sectional studies and 4 cohort studies) were included in the study criteria. In the qualitative evaluation of articles with STROBE index, 10 studies were of high quality and 4 studies were of medium quality. In general, in these studies, green space exposure was evaluated with normalized indices of vegetation difference (NDVI), proximity to green space and distance to parks and recreational facilities. The results of most studies showed that there was no relationship between green space and preterm birth, and the rest of the studies expressed conflicting results on the protective effect of green space on preterm birth.
Conclusion: Conclusion: The results of most studies showed no association between green space and preterm birth and gestational age. While a number of studies have reported conflicting results on the protective effect of green space on preterm birth. Therefore, it is suggested that further studies be conducted in this area.
Keywords: Keywords: green space, preterm birth, gestational age