Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran

Introduction: Expanding evidence suggests beneficial impacts of greenspace on human health, yet the relationships between greenness and stillbirth remain unknown. This study aimed to quantify the risk and burden of stillbirth associated with maternal greenness exposure during pregnancy. Methods: A t...

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Main Authors: Yang Yuan, Fatemeh Mayvaneh, Yaqi Wang, Jixing Yang, Yunquan Zhang, Fang Shi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324017135
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author Yang Yuan
Fatemeh Mayvaneh
Yaqi Wang
Jixing Yang
Yunquan Zhang
Fang Shi
author_facet Yang Yuan
Fatemeh Mayvaneh
Yaqi Wang
Jixing Yang
Yunquan Zhang
Fang Shi
author_sort Yang Yuan
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Expanding evidence suggests beneficial impacts of greenspace on human health, yet the relationships between greenness and stillbirth remain unknown. This study aimed to quantify the risk and burden of stillbirth associated with maternal greenness exposure during pregnancy. Methods: A total of 3,982,304 eligible birth records across 31 provinces in Iran from 2013 to 2018 were included in this study. Greenness exposure during pregnancy was assessed using the satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) with multiple buffers. Stillbirth was defined as the birth of babies with no signs of life at ≥22 weeks of gestation. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were employed to investigate greenness-stillbirth associations. To estimate the exposure-response functions, greenness exposures were fitted as smooth terms using restricted cubic splines. Avoidable burden of stillbirth under the predefined scenarios of improved greenness was estimated through a counterfactual analysis. Results: A total of 29,770 stillbirths occurred during 2013–2018, totaling to an overall annual rate of 748 cases per 100,000 births. Lower stillbirth risks were consistently seen in pregnant mothers being exposed to greater greenness within buffers of 500–3000 m. For instance, per 0.1-unit increase of NDVI and EVI within a 3000-m buffer was associated with the estimated odds of 0.971 (95 % confidence interval: 0.963–0.978) and 0.957 (0.947–0.968) for stillbirth, respectively. Evidently nonlinear relationships were identified between greenness exposure and stillbirth, exhibiting approximately an inverted L-shaped pattern with the steeper slope at high greenness levels. Assuming causality, 34–41 stillbirths per 100,000 births could be avoidable by achieving the 80th percentile of NDVI/EVI during 2013–2018, representing 4.6–5.4 % of nationwide registry-based stillbirths in Iran. Conclusions: Our findings provided robust national evidence on beneficial effects of surrounding greenness in alleviating risk and burden of stillbirth in Iran, suggesting a greener environment could potentially serve as a promising intervention strategy for reducing stillbirth risk in less developed countries.
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spelling doaj-art-d7cece4ec0124c4da3604973ecdefce02025-02-12T05:30:03ZengElsevierEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety0147-65132025-01-01290117637Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in IranYang Yuan0Fatemeh Mayvaneh1Yaqi Wang2Jixing Yang3Yunquan Zhang4Fang Shi5Shenzhen Bao'an District Songgang People's Hospital, Shenzhen 518100, ChinaInstitute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster 48149, GermanySchool of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Xiangnan University, Chenzhou 423001, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, China; Correspondence authors.Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Correspondence authors.Introduction: Expanding evidence suggests beneficial impacts of greenspace on human health, yet the relationships between greenness and stillbirth remain unknown. This study aimed to quantify the risk and burden of stillbirth associated with maternal greenness exposure during pregnancy. Methods: A total of 3,982,304 eligible birth records across 31 provinces in Iran from 2013 to 2018 were included in this study. Greenness exposure during pregnancy was assessed using the satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) with multiple buffers. Stillbirth was defined as the birth of babies with no signs of life at ≥22 weeks of gestation. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were employed to investigate greenness-stillbirth associations. To estimate the exposure-response functions, greenness exposures were fitted as smooth terms using restricted cubic splines. Avoidable burden of stillbirth under the predefined scenarios of improved greenness was estimated through a counterfactual analysis. Results: A total of 29,770 stillbirths occurred during 2013–2018, totaling to an overall annual rate of 748 cases per 100,000 births. Lower stillbirth risks were consistently seen in pregnant mothers being exposed to greater greenness within buffers of 500–3000 m. For instance, per 0.1-unit increase of NDVI and EVI within a 3000-m buffer was associated with the estimated odds of 0.971 (95 % confidence interval: 0.963–0.978) and 0.957 (0.947–0.968) for stillbirth, respectively. Evidently nonlinear relationships were identified between greenness exposure and stillbirth, exhibiting approximately an inverted L-shaped pattern with the steeper slope at high greenness levels. Assuming causality, 34–41 stillbirths per 100,000 births could be avoidable by achieving the 80th percentile of NDVI/EVI during 2013–2018, representing 4.6–5.4 % of nationwide registry-based stillbirths in Iran. Conclusions: Our findings provided robust national evidence on beneficial effects of surrounding greenness in alleviating risk and burden of stillbirth in Iran, suggesting a greener environment could potentially serve as a promising intervention strategy for reducing stillbirth risk in less developed countries.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324017135Greenness exposureNDVIEVIStillbirthAttributable burdenIran
spellingShingle Yang Yuan
Fatemeh Mayvaneh
Yaqi Wang
Jixing Yang
Yunquan Zhang
Fang Shi
Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Greenness exposure
NDVI
EVI
Stillbirth
Attributable burden
Iran
title Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran
title_full Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran
title_fullStr Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran
title_full_unstemmed Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran
title_short Estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in Iran
title_sort estimating avoidable burden of stillbirth attributable to greenness improvement in iran
topic Greenness exposure
NDVI
EVI
Stillbirth
Attributable burden
Iran
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324017135
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