A better understanding of the association between maternal perception of foetal movements and late stillbirth—findings from an individual participant data meta-analysis

Thompson, John M. D.; Wilson, Jessica; Bradford, Billie F.; Li, Minglan; Cronin, Robin S.; Gordon, Adrienne; Raynes-Greenow, Camille H.; Stacey, Tomasina; Cullling, Vicki M.; Askie, Lisa M.; O’Brien, Louise M.; Mitchell, Edwin A.; McCowan, Lesley M. E.; Heazell, Alexander E. P.

doi:10.1186/s12916-021-02140-z

Table 2 Univariable and multivariable odds ratios showing the association between foetal movement variables and late stillbirth

From: A better understanding of the association between maternal perception of foetal movements and late stillbirth—findings from an individual participant data meta-analysis

	Case, N = 851	Control, N = 2257	Univariable OR (95% CI)	Adjusted OR* (95% CI)	Multivariable OR** (95% CI)
Strength of movements in the last 2 weeks: 4 categories
Increased	124	1061	0.21 (0.17, 0.26)	0.18 (0.14, 0.23)
Decreased	195	179	1.94 (1.53, 2.45)	1.82 (1.37, 2.42)
No change	446	793	1	1
Unsure	79	118	1.19 (0.88, 1.62)	0.96 (0.67, 1.38)
Frequency of movements in the last 2 weeks: 4 categories
Increased	83	648	0.33 (0.25, 0.42)	0.29 (0.21, 0.38)
Decreased	265	268	2.52 (2.06, 3.09)	2.48 (1.94, 3.16)
No change	443	1131	1	1
Unsure	53	114	1.19 (0.84, 1.67)	0.93 (0.62, 1.39)
How often was a baby more vigorous than usual in the last 2 weeks: 3 categories
Once	133	124	2.25 (1.72, 2.95)	2.30 (1.68, 3.16)	2.86 (2.01, 4.07)
More than once	165	903	0.38 (0.31, 0.47)	0.41 (0.32, 0.52)	0.67 (0.52, 0.87)
Never	430	901	1	1	1
During the last 2 weeks/this pregnancy did you feel your baby having hiccups?
Yes	355	1359	0.40 (0.34, 0.48)	0.42 (0.34, 0.53)	0.45 (0.36, 0.58)
No	329	509	1	1	1
Unsure	51	100	0.79 (0.55, 1.14)	0.94 (0.61, 1.44)	0.93 (0.58, 1.49)
During the last 2 weeks, did you feel uterine contractions (tightenings/pre-labour contractions/Braxton-Hicks contractions/false labour)?
Yes	253	653	1.04 (0.86, 1.25)	0.97 (0.77, 1.22)
No	352	941	1	1
Combination of strength and frequency changes in the last 2 weeks (prioritised variable)	Missing = 6	Missing = 95
Increased strength	124	1061	0.22 (0.17, 0.27)	0.19 (0.15, 0.24)	0.20 (0.15, 0.27)
Increased frequency but not strength	25	97	0.47 (0.30, 0.75)	0.44 (0.26, 0.74)	0.50 (0.29, 0.88)
Decreased frequency	249	196	2.34 (1.87, 2.92)	2.36 (1.79, 3.10)	2.33 (1.73, 3.14)
Unsure of strength or frequency	57	91	1.15 (0.81, 1.64)	1.01 (0.67, 1.52)	0.85 (0.53, 1.38)
The same strength or frequency	390	717	1	1	1

Adjusted and multivariable models adjusted for maternal age (6 groups), maternal BMI (continuous), maternal ethnicity (7 groups), parity (4 groups), maternal education (5 groups), marital status (yes/no), maternal pre-existing HTN, DM (yes/no), smoking status (yes/no), recreation drug use (yes/no), customised centile(6 groups), most recent going-to-sleep position (7 groups) and a stratification statement for study and site
*Adjusted OR is a multivariable model with each individual foetal movement variable added alone
**Multivariable model is a multivariable model including all foetal movement variables included in that column in the model. The individual frequency and strength variables are not included as they are accounted for in the combined variable, and uterine contractions were not included due to the lack of significance in the univariable analysis

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ISSN: 1741-7015

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