Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Author | Year | Country | Study design | Number of cases | Number of hospital units | Year of data collection | Population | Sampling | Type of CS analysed | National CS rates* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braveman et al | 1995 | USA | Retrospective cohort study | 213 761 | Unclear | 1991 | Primiparae; no previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Any | High |
| Naiditch et al | 1997 | France | Cross-sectional | 39 880 | 944 | 1991 | Primiparae and multiparae; no previous CS; any risk | Random | Before labour | Moderate |
| Gomes et al. A | 1999 | Brazil | Cross-sectional | 6750 | 8 | 1978–1979 | Primiparae and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Any | Very high |
| Gomes et al. B | 1999 | Brazil | Cross-sectional | 2846 | 10 | 1994 | Primiparae and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Any | Very high |
| Gonzalez-Perez et al | 2001 | Mexico | Cross-sectional | 1 716 446 | Unclear | 1994–1997 | Primiparae and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Any | High |
| Korst et al | 2005 | USA | Cross-sectional | 443 532 | 288 | 1995 | Primiparae and multiparae; no previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | During labour | High |
| Mossialos et al. | 2005 | Greece | Cross-sectional | 805 | 3 | 2002 | Primiparae and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Any | High |
| Carayol et al A | 2007 | France | Cross-sectional | 1479 | Unclear | 1972, 1995, 1998, 2003 | Primiparae and multiparae; no previous CS; high risk | Random | Before labour | Moderate |
| Carayol et al B | 2007 | France | Cross-sectional | 6080 | 138 | 2001-2002 | Primiparae and multiparae; no previous CS; high risk | Random | Before labour | Moderate |
| Xirasagar and Lin | 2007 | Taiwan | Cross-sectional | 739 531 | 942 | 1997–2000 | Primiparae and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Before labour† | High |
| Coonrod et al | 2008 | USA | Cross-sectional | 28 863 | 40 | 2005 | Primiparae; low risk | Consecutive | Any | High |
| Coulm et al | 2012 | France | Cross-sectional | 9530 | 535 | 2010 | Primiparae and multiparae; no previous CS; low risk | Consecutive | Any | Moderate |
| Huesch et al | 2014 | USA | Cross-sectional | 408 355 | 254 | 2010 | Primiparae and multiparae; no previous CS; any risk | Consecutive | Before labour | High |
| Raifman et al A | 2014 | Brazil | Cross sectional | 4918 | Not Reported | 1996 | Primi- and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Random | Any | Very high |
| Raifman et al B | 2014 | Brazil | Cross sectional | 5768 | Not Reported | 2006 | Primi- and multiparae; with or without previous CS; any risk | Random | Any | Very high |
| Schemann et al | 2015 | Australia | Cross sectional | 61 894 | 81 | 2007-2011 | Multiparae; with previous CS | Consecutive | Any | High |
| Sebastião et al | 2016 | USA | Retrospective cohort study | 412 192 | 122 | 2004-2011 | Primiparae; low risk | Consecutive | During labour | High |
*National CS rates classified according to WHO data reported for 2008 into moderate (>15% to 20%), high (>20% to 40%) and very high (>40%).
†On maternal request.
CS, caesarean section.