Table 2.
Pooled relative risks for female genital mutilation status and instrumental delivery
| Studies (n) | RR (95% CI) | I2 (%) | Ph* | Ph† | |
| All studies | 5 | 1.11 (0.82 to 1.50) | 53 | 0.07 | |
| Study quality | |||||
| Moderate (4–6) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Good (7–9) | 5 | 1.11 (0.82 to 1.50) | 53 | 0.07 | |
| Study design | |||||
| Case-control | 5 | 1.11 (0.82 to 1.50) | 53 | 0.07 | – |
| Cross-sectional | – | – | – | ||
| Geographic location | |||||
| Africa | 2 | 3.27 (1.45 to 7.34) | 0 | 0.84 | 0.005 |
| Europe | 3 | 0.94 (0.68 to 1.30) | 0 | 0.72 | |
| Parity | |||||
| Primiparous | 1 | 3.16 (1.34 to 7.65) | – | – | 0.01 |
| Primiparous and multiparous | 4 | 0.97 (0.70 to 1.33) | 0 | 0.51 | |
| Specialised delivery setting | |||||
| Yes | 2 | 1.03 (0.57 to 1.87) | 0 | 0.47 | 0.36 |
| No | 3 | 1.83 (0.63 to 5.38) | 75 | 0.02 | |
| Adjustment/Matching for confounders | |||||
| Maternal age | |||||
| Yes | 4 | 1.54 (0.96 to 2.49) | 47 | 0.13 | 0.14 |
| No | 1 | 0.90 (0.60 to 1.30) | – | – | |
| Parity | |||||
| Yes | 4 | 1.39 (0.68 to 2.82) | 64 | 0.04 | 0.91 |
| No | 1 | 1.30 (0.55 to 3.06) | – | – | |
| Education or socioeconomic status | |||||
| Yes | 1 | 0.90 (0.60 to 1.30) | – | – | 0.14 |
| No | 4 | 1.54 (0.96 to 2.49) | 47 | 0.13 | |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| Yes | 1 | 0.84 (0.37 to 1.90) | – | – | 0.26 |
| No | 4 | 1.56 (0.77 to 3.15) | 63 | 0.04 | |
| Marital status | |||||
| Yes | – | – | – | – | – |
| No | 5 | 1.11 (0.82 to 1.50) | 53 | 0.07 |
n denotes the number of studies.
*P for heterogeneity within each subgroup.
†P for heterogeneity between subgroups.