Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2014 Dec 2;9(12):e113920.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113920. eCollection 2014.

Household air pollution from solid fuel use and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

Adeladza K Amegah  1 , Reginald Quansah  2 , Jouni J K Jaakkola  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Household air pollution from solid fuel use and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

Adeladza K Amegah et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: About 41% of households globally, mainly in developing countries rely on solid fuels for cooking with consequences for fetal growth and development. Previous reviews were limited in scope, assessing only two outcomes (birth weight, stillbirth). With important evidence accumulating, there is a need to improve the previous estimates and assess additional outcomes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the quality and strength of available evidence on household air pollution (HAP) and the whole range of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: PubMed, Ovid Medline, Scopus and CINAHL were searched from their inception to the end of April 2013. All epidemiological study designs were eligible for inclusion in the review. The random-effects model was applied in computing the summary-effect estimates (EE) and their corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: Of 1505 studies screened, 19 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Household combustion of solid fuels resulted in an 86.43 g (95% CI: 55.49, 117.37) reduction in birth weight, and a 35% (EE = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.23, 1.48) and 29% (EE = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.41) increased risk of LBW and stillbirth respectively.

Conclusion: Combustion of solid fuels at home increases the risk of a wide range of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Access to clean household energy solutions is the surest way to combat HAP and mitigate their adverse effects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowchart of search strategy and selection of studies for inclusion in review.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Forest plot showing the effect of household solid fuel use on birth weight (A), low birth weight (B) and Stillbirth (C).
ES: effect size; CI: confidence interval.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Funnel plot for the relation between household solid fuel use and birth weight (A), low birth weight (B) and stillbirth (C).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Filled funnel plot for the relation between household solid fuel use and birth weight (A), low birth weight (B) and stillbirth (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bonjour S, Adair-Rohani H, Wolf J, Bruce NG, Mehta S, et al. (2013) Solid fuel use for household cooking: country and regional estimates for 1980–2010. Environ Health Perspect 121(7):784–790. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Smith KR (2002) Indoor air pollution in developing countries: recommendations for research. Indoor Air 12:198–207. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) (2014) Burden of disease from Household Air Pollution for 2012. Geneva: WHO. Available: http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/FINAL_HAP_AAP_.... Accessed 2014 Apr 20.
    1. Smith KR, Mehta S, Feuz M (2004) Indoor air pollution from household use of solid fuels. In: Ezzati M, Rodgers A, Lopez AD, Murray, CJLeditors. Comparative quantification of health risk: Global and regional burden of disease due to selected major risk factors. Geneva: WHO.
    1. Dherani M, Pope D, Mascarenhas M, Smith KR, Weber M, et al. (2008) Indoor air pollution from unprocessed solid fuel use and pneumonia risk in children aged under five years: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Bull World Health Organ 86:390–398. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types