Risk of Mortality in Association with Pregnancy in Women Following Motor Vehicle Crashes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The aim of the study was to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the association between mortality risk and motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) in pregnant women compared with nonpregnant women. We used relevant MeSH terms to identify epidemiological studies of mortality risk in relation to MVCs from PubMed, Embase, and MEDLINE databases. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used for quality assessment. For comparison of mortality from MVCs between pregnant and nonpregnant women, the pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using a random effects model. The eight studies selected met all inclusion criteria. These studies included 14,120 injured victims who were pregnant at the time of the incident and 207,935 victims who were not pregnant. Compared with nonpregnant women, pregnant women had a moderate but insignificant decrease in mortality risk (pooled OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.38-1.22, I-2 = 88.71%). Subgroup analysis revealed that the pooled OR significantly increased at 1.64 (95% CI = 1.16-2.33, I-2 < 0.01%) for two studies with a similar difference in the mean injury severity score (ISS) between pregnant and nonpregnant women. Future studies should further explore the risk factors associated with MVCs in pregnant women to reduce maternal mortality.

Automated summary

This study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between mortality risk and motor vehicle crashes in pregnant women compared with nonpregnant women. The findings suggest that pregnant women have a moderate but insignificant decrease in mortality risk compared to nonpregnant women. Subgroup analysis shows a significantly increased mortality risk for pregnant women when the injury severity score is similar to nonpregnant women.