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The problem
Intervention: Elective induction of labour at term (37-41 weeks gestation) without recognised medical indication
Who it was tested with: Children born after 37 weeks gestation in Scotland between 1988-2015 (721,177 singleton pregnancies; 158,217 underwent elective induction).
Children or communities are compared with a group that did not receive the intervention, or followed over years. This is the design that best separates what the intervention did from everything else that changed.
"For each week we identified a comparison group of women who had been expectantly managed and delivered after the gestation at which the comparator induction of labour had been performed." This quasi-experimental design with matched comparison groups at each gestational week provides stronger evidence than simple comparison, as it accounts for the natural timing of delivery.
Observational design cannot prove causation; potential unmeasured confounding from reasons clinicians or women chose induction; outcome assessed only at school age, later developmental impacts unknown.
Across countries and designs
1 study · 1 country
