Global incidence proportion of intraventricular haemorrhage of prematurity: a meta-analysis of studies published 2010–2020

OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences and calculate pooled incidence of any intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH), severe IVH (Grade III/IV, sIVH) and ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement in preterm infants across geographical, health and economic regions stratified by gestational age (GA). DESIGN: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science were searched between 2010 and 2020. Studies reporting rates of preterm infants with any IVH, sIVH and VPS by GA subgroup were included. Meta-regression was performed to determine subgroup differences between study designs and across United Nations geographical regions, WHO mortality strata and World Bank lending regions. Incidence of any IVH, sIVH and VPS by GA subgroups<25, <28, 28-31, 32-33 and 34-36 weeks were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: >90%) but 64%-85% of the variance was explained by GA and study inclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first pooled estimates of IVH of prematurity by GA subgroup. There was high heterogeneity across studies suggesting a need for standardised incidence reporting guidelines.