Induction of labour (IOL) is a procedure that stimulates labour and childbirth for maternal or fetal reasons.1 However, IOL may also carry risks.2 Individual Participant Data meta-analysis offers better personalized insights, while network meta-analysis simultaneously evaluates and ranks multiple treatments to improve clinical decisions. An IPD network meta-analysis will evaluate the safety and efficacy of all IOL interventions with trustworthy data in one effort.3,4 Findings will enable clinicians to personalize treatment for each patient.
Research Knowledge Gap
Past network meta-analysis studies on methods for IOL have used aggregated data for analysis and could not thoroughly investigate the variability of women’s individual characteristics on the choice of IOL method.
Research Question
What is the most effective method/s with optimal perinatal and maternal safety outcomes for cervical ripening in IOL, and do subgroups of patients differ as to the most effective and safest method/s?
References
- Leduc D, Biringer A, Lee L, Dy J, Azzam H, Barrett J, et al. Induction of Labour: Review. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. 2015 Apr;37(4):380–1.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia’s mothers and babies, Onset of labour [Internet]. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2022. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-babies/contents/labour-and-birth/onset-of-labour
- Rouse B, Chaimani A, Li T. Network Meta-Analysis: An Introduction for Clinicians. Internal and emergency medicine [Internet]. 2017 Feb 1;12(1):103–11. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5247317/
- Riley RD, Dias S, Donegan S, Tierney JF, Stewart LA, Efthimiou O, et al. Using individual participant data to improve network meta-analysis projects. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine [Internet]. 2023 Jun 1 [cited 2023 Jul 17];28(3):197–203. Available from: https://ebm.bmj.com/content/28/3/197
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