Nutrients
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Review Meta Analysis
Does Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency Increase the Risk of Preterm Birth: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.
There are disagreements among researchers about the association between vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and preterm birth (PTB). Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to evaluate this association. We performed a systematic literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library through August 2015 with the following keywords: "vitamin D" or "cholecalciferol" or "25-hydroxyvitamin D" or "25(OH)D" in combination with "premature birth" or "preterm birth" or "PTB" or "preterm delivery" or "PTD" or "prematurity". ⋯ Sensitivity analysis showed that exclusion of any single study did not materially alter the overall combined effect. In the subgroup analyses, we found that heterogeneity was obvious in prospective cohort studies (I² = 60%, p = 0.06). In conclusion, pregnant women with vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy have an increasing risk of PTB.