Shimada Kensuke, Komiyama Jun, Sugiyama Takehiro, Jung-Ho Shin, Kihara Tomomi, Masuda Rie, Kunisawa Susumu, Iwagami Masao, Muraki Isao, Imanaka Yuichi, Iso Hiroyasu, Tamiya Nanako
Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Transrational Research Promotion Center, Tsukuba Clinical Research & Development Organization, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2025 Jul;51(7):e16370. doi: 10.1111/jog.16370.
After the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Cesarean sections for COVID-19-positive cases were performed to reduce delivery time and thus control infection. This may have increased the proportion of Cesarean sections and affected many pregnant women in Japan; though this expected trend has not yet been quantified. This study examined changes in the proportions of Cesarean sections in Japan before and during the pandemic.
This study retrospective observational study used the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan and Vital Statistics from the National Statistical Surveys from April 2018 to October 2022. We compared proportions of Cesarean sections (total Cesarean sections/total live births) in Japan before and during the pandemic and by the COVID-19 pandemic phase: pre-COVID-19 (April 2018 to December 2019), Wave 1 (January to May 2020), Wave 2 (June to October 2020), Wave 3 (November 2020 to February 2021), Wave 4 (March to June 2021), Wave 5 (July to December 2021), Wave 6 (January to June 2022), and Wave 7 (July to October 2022).
The proportion of Cesarean sections in Japan was 20.27% (317 241/1 564 912) before the pandemic and increased to 21.19% (486 172/2 294 488) during the pandemic. The highest proportion was in Wave 6 (22.14%), dropping to 21.27% in Wave 7.
The overall proportion of Cesarean sections increased by 0.92% point during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, possibly due in part to infection control measures. Verification and preparation are necessary to respond to future pandemics.
在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行之后，为COVID-19阳性病例实施剖宫产以缩短分娩时间，从而控制感染。这可能增加了剖宫产的比例，并影响了日本许多孕妇；尽管这一预期趋势尚未得到量化。本研究调查了日本在大流行之前和期间剖宫产比例的变化。
本研究为回顾性观察研究，使用了日本医疗保险索赔和特定健康检查国家数据库以及2018年4月至2022年10月国家统计调查的生命统计数据。我们比较了日本在大流行之前和期间以及COVID-19大流行阶段的剖宫产比例（剖宫产总数/活产总数）：COVID-19之前（2018年4月至2019年12月）、第1波（2020年1月至5月）、第2波（2020年6月至10月）、第3波（2020年11月至2021年2月）、第4波（2021年3月至6月）、第5波（2021年7月至12月）、第6波（2022年1月至6月）和第7波（2022年7月至10月）。
大流行之前日本剖宫产比例为20.27%（317241/1564912），大流行期间增至21.19%（486172/2294488）。最高比例出现在第6波（22.14%），在第7波降至21.27%。
在日本，COVID-19大流行期间剖宫产的总体比例增加了0.92个百分点，部分原因可能是感染控制措施。应对未来的大流行需要进行核查和准备。
