The association of between assisted reproduction technology and malpresentation/induction of labor: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Some epidemiological studies have investigated that assisted reproduction technology (ART) can increase the risk of malpresentation and induction of labor. To date, no meta-analysis has been performed for assessing the relationship between ART and malpresention/induction of labor. This meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between ART and malpresention/induction of labor.

METHODS: A systematic search was carried out in major databases PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus to May 2017. The heterogeneity across studies was explored by Q-test and I2 statistic. The publication bias was assessed by Begg's and Egger's tests. The results were showed using odds ratio (OR) estimate with its 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a random-effects model.

RESULTS: The systematic search included 2103 articles until May 2017 with 1,401,448 participants. Based on OR estimates obtained from case-control and cohort studies, there was significant association between ART and risk of the induction of labor/malpresentation (1.33; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.43) and (1.58; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.98), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: We showed based on reports in epidemiological studies that ART is a risk factor for malpresentation and induction of labor.