Centre for Public Health (Institute for Global Food Security), School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Jun 22;24(1):1662. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19188-0.
Preconception health has the potential to improve parental, pregnancy and infant outcomes. This scoping review aims to (1) provide an overview of the strategies, policies, guidelines, frameworks, and recommendations available in the UK and Ireland that address preconception health and care, identifying common approaches and health-influencing factors that are targeted; and (2) conduct an audit to explore the awareness and use of resources found in the scoping review amongst healthcare professionals, to validate and contextualise findings relevant to Northern Ireland.
Grey literature resources were identified through Google Advanced Search, NICE, OpenAire, ProQuest and relevant public health and government websites. Resources were included if published, reviewed, or updated between January 2011 and May 2022. Data were extracted into Excel and coded using NVivo. The review design included the involvement of the "Healthy Reproductive Years" Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement advisory panel.
The searches identified 273 resources, and a subsequent audit with healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland revealed five additional preconception health-related resources. A wide range of resource types were identified, and preconception health was often not the only focus of the resources reviewed. Resources proposed approaches to improve preconception health and care, such as the need for improved awareness and access to care, preconceptual counselling, multidisciplinary collaborations, and the adoption of a life-course approach. Many behavioural (e.g., folic acid intake, smoking), biomedical (e.g., mental and physical health conditions), and environmental and social (e.g., deprivation) factors were identified and addressed in the resources reviewed. In particular, pre-existing physical health conditions were frequently mentioned, with fewer resources addressing psychological factors and mental health. Overall, there was a greater focus on women's, rather than men's, behaviours.
This scoping review synthesised existing resources available in the UK and Ireland to identify a wide range of common approaches and factors that influence preconception health and care. Efforts are needed to implement the identified resources (e.g., strategies, guidelines) to support people of childbearing age to access preconception care and optimise their preconception health.
孕前健康有可能改善父母、妊娠和婴儿的结局。本范围界定综述旨在：(1) 概述英国和爱尔兰现有的、针对孕前健康和保健的策略、政策、准则、框架和建议，确定共同的方法和针对的健康影响因素；(2) 进行一次审计，以探索医疗保健专业人员对综述中发现的资源的认识和使用情况，以验证和说明与北爱尔兰相关的发现。
通过谷歌高级搜索、NICE、OpenAire、ProQuest 和相关公共卫生与政府网站，确定灰色文献资源。如果资源是在 2011 年 1 月至 2022 年 5 月期间发布、审查或更新的，则将其纳入。将数据提取到 Excel 中，并使用 NVivo 进行编码。该综述设计包括“健康生殖年限”患者和公众参与及倡导咨询小组的参与。
搜索共确定了 273 项资源，随后对北爱尔兰的医疗保健专业人员进行的审计发现了另外 5 项与孕前保健相关的资源。确定了多种类型的资源，且审查的资源通常不仅仅关注孕前保健。资源提出了改善孕前保健的方法，例如需要提高对保健的认识和获取途径、孕前咨询、多学科合作，以及采用生命历程方法。在审查的资源中，确定并解决了许多行为（例如叶酸摄入、吸烟）、生物医学（例如心理健康和身体健康状况）和环境及社会因素（例如贫困）。特别是，经常提到现有的身体健康状况，而较少的资源涉及心理因素和心理健康。总体而言，更多地关注女性而非男性的行为。
本范围界定综述综合了英国和爱尔兰现有的资源，以确定影响孕前健康和保健的广泛的共同方法和因素。需要努力实施已确定的资源（例如，策略、准则），以支持育龄人群获得孕前保健并优化其孕前健康。
