Preterm birth does not increase the risk of developmental dysplasia of the Hip: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this systematic review was to appraise the literature on the association between preterm birth and developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). METHODS: Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were queried for all studies pertaining to DDH and preterm birth. Data were imported and analyzed in Revman5 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) for pooled prevalence estimation. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the final analysis. There were 759 newborns diagnosed with DDH in these studies. DDH was diagnosed in 2.0% [95%CI:1.1–3.5%] of the premature newborns. Pooled incidence rate of DDH was not statistically different between those groups (2.5%[0.9%-6.8%] vs. 0.7%[0.2%-2.5%] vs. 1.7%[0.6%-5.3%];Q = 2.363,p = 0.307). CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we did not find preterm birth to be a significant risk factor for DDH. Data suggests that female sex and breech presentation are associated with DDH in preterm infants, but the data is scarce in the literature. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-023-04083-1.