Table 6.
Results of subgroup analyses
| Number of studiesa | Pooled estimate of prevalence (%, 95% CI) | P | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income level | 79 | < 0.001* | |
| High | 33 | 16.4 (12.3–20.5) | |
| Upper-middle | 33 | 29.0 (23.1–35.0) | |
| Lower-middle | 10 | 34.7 (19.0–50.4) | |
| Low | 3 | 10.2 (2.6–17.7) | |
| Decade | 77 | 0.705 | |
| 1991–2000 | 4 | 18.2 (3.4–33.0) | |
| 2001–2010 | 12 | 20.5 (9.7–31.4) | |
| 2011–2020 | 61 | 23.7 (19.3–28.1) | |
| Parity | 22 | 0.098 | |
| Nulliparous | 22 | 27.3 (18.6–36.0) | |
| Multiparous | 11 | 15.6 (4.8–26.4) | |
| Method of measuring use of fundal pressure | 72 | 0.001* | |
| Direct observation | 29 | 28.0 (21.3–34.8) | |
| Medical records | 24 | 14.4 (9.1–19.7) | |
| Women’s self-report | 19 | 29.8 (21.5–38.0) |
aOne study reporting data from multiple countries of mixed income levels was excluded from the income level subgroup analysis. Studies that did not specify decade of data collection (n = 3) or method of assessing fundal pressure use (n = 8) were not included in subgroup analyses. Twenty-two studies included in subgroup analysis of parity—eleven of these provided data on both nulliparous and multiparous women, and eleven provided data on nulliparous women only