{"title":"The impact of economic growth and recessions on maternal and child health outcomes in sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic literature review.","authors":"Helena Yeboah, Olumuyiwa Omonaiye, Sanni Yaya","doi":"10.1186/s12978-025-01973-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The discourse surrounding the relationship between economic growth and maternal and child health has extended over several years. While some studies highlight the potential positive impact of economic growth on maternal and child health, others challenge the conventional belief that economic growth invariably translates to improved maternal and child health. Recent findings suggest that its role as a sole determinant of mortality outcomes has declined over time. This systematic review aims to consolidate existing literature and offer a comprehensive overview of this relationship in sub-Saharan African countries.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A structured search of Medline, Embase, Web of Science, EconLit, and Global Health was conducted. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies published between 2000 to 2022 that examined national level economic growth and recession in conjunction with health outcomes of mothers and children in sub-Saharan African countries.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 1167 studies were initially identified from the database searches, of which 18 met the inclusion criteria for data extraction. The review presents a range of findings. Eleven studies underscore the significant impact of economic growth in reducing child mortality and undernutrition, and maternal mortality rate. Conversely, other studies indicated insignificant or inconsistent associations, emphasizing the importance of various socio-economic factors such as female education, equitable resource distribution, effective governance, and comprehensive maternal and child health coverage and interventions. These factors are considered crucial in maximizing the benefits derived from national economic growth.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Future research should explore alternative economic growth indicators such as, inequality-adjusted Human Development Index and Genuine Progress Indicator, to better capture several socio-economic factors. Additionally, expanding the timeframe could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of economic growth and recession on maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa.</p>","PeriodicalId":20899,"journal":{"name":"Reproductive Health","volume":"22 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11887358/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Reproductive Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-025-01973-8","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The discourse surrounding the relationship between economic growth and maternal and child health has extended over several years. While some studies highlight the potential positive impact of economic growth on maternal and child health, others challenge the conventional belief that economic growth invariably translates to improved maternal and child health. Recent findings suggest that its role as a sole determinant of mortality outcomes has declined over time. This systematic review aims to consolidate existing literature and offer a comprehensive overview of this relationship in sub-Saharan African countries.
Methods: A structured search of Medline, Embase, Web of Science, EconLit, and Global Health was conducted. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies published between 2000 to 2022 that examined national level economic growth and recession in conjunction with health outcomes of mothers and children in sub-Saharan African countries.
Results: A total of 1167 studies were initially identified from the database searches, of which 18 met the inclusion criteria for data extraction. The review presents a range of findings. Eleven studies underscore the significant impact of economic growth in reducing child mortality and undernutrition, and maternal mortality rate. Conversely, other studies indicated insignificant or inconsistent associations, emphasizing the importance of various socio-economic factors such as female education, equitable resource distribution, effective governance, and comprehensive maternal and child health coverage and interventions. These factors are considered crucial in maximizing the benefits derived from national economic growth.
Conclusions: Future research should explore alternative economic growth indicators such as, inequality-adjusted Human Development Index and Genuine Progress Indicator, to better capture several socio-economic factors. Additionally, expanding the timeframe could provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of economic growth and recession on maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa.
背景：围绕经济增长与孕产妇和儿童健康之间关系的讨论已经持续了好几年。虽然一些研究强调了经济增长对孕产妇和儿童健康的潜在积极影响，但另一些研究则对经济增长必然转化为改善孕产妇和儿童健康的传统观念提出了挑战。最近的研究结果表明，随着时间的推移，它作为死亡率结果的唯一决定因素的作用已经减弱。本系统综述旨在巩固现有文献，并提供撒哈拉以南非洲国家这种关系的全面概述。方法：对Medline、Embase、Web of Science、EconLit和Global Health进行结构化检索。纳入标准包括2000年至2022年期间发表的研究报告，这些研究报告审查了撒哈拉以南非洲国家国家一级的经济增长和衰退与母亲和儿童健康结果的关系。结果：从数据库检索中初步识别出1167项研究，其中18项符合数据提取的纳入标准。该综述提出了一系列发现。11项研究强调了经济增长对降低儿童死亡率和营养不良以及产妇死亡率的重大影响。相反，其他研究表明相关性不显著或不一致，强调了各种社会经济因素的重要性，如女性教育、公平资源分配、有效治理以及全面的妇幼保健覆盖和干预措施。这些因素被认为是使国民经济增长所带来的利益最大化的关键因素。结论：未来的研究应探索替代的经济增长指标，如不平等调整的人类发展指数和真正的进步指标，以更好地捕捉几个社会经济因素。此外，扩大时间框架可使人们更全面地了解经济增长和衰退对撒哈拉以南非洲孕产妇和儿童健康的影响。
期刊介绍：
Reproductive Health focuses on all aspects of human reproduction. The journal includes sections dedicated to adolescent health, female fertility and midwifery and all content is open access.
Reproductive health is defined as a state of physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system, at all stages of life. Good reproductive health implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life, the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so. Men and women should be informed about and have access to safe, effective, affordable, and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, and the right to appropriate health-care services that enable women to safely go through pregnancy and childbirth.
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