Li L, Li K, Zhou X, Knowles RL. Maximising the potential of Chinese birth cohort studies: a systematic review of mother-baby cohorts in mainland China.
Public Health 2024;
227:119-130. [PMID:
38168592 DOI:
10.1016/j.puhe.2023.11.035]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
There is now a growing interest in early-life influences on adult diseases in China. A number of birth cohorts have been established. This systematic review provided a better understanding of the development of mother-baby cohorts in China.
STUDY DESIGN
Systematic review.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review for research or profile papers in English/Chinese that reported data from mother-baby cohorts in mainland China, with ≥1y follow-up after birth. We identified 315 papers, corresponding to 31 cohorts from 19 provinces/megacities.
RESULTS
All cohorts started in 1999-2017 (21 after 2010) and were set up with broad objectives or specific scientific focus. The baseline sample size varied, from <500 to >300,000 mothers. A majority of cohorts were initiated during pregnancy and followed children to <10y, only six to adolescence and none into adulthood. These cohorts mostly collected samples from mothers and babies, in addition to using interviews/questionnaires to collect information about pregnancy, birth and child health. Most cohorts were recruited from a single province/city. The large western region was understudied.
CONCLUSIONS
Mother-baby cohorts have developed rapidly in China, but usually with a short follow-up duration. Extending the follow-up of children and developing cross-cohort collaboration will increase the diversity, size and coverage of the sample, allow studying early influences on life-course health and identify targets for early intervention in the Chinese population.
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