Can International Classification of Disease Perinatal Mortality (ICD‐PM) be a solution to overcome neglected tragedy? A scoping reviews

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Over 5 million perinatal deaths occur annually worldwide, with a significant proportion of them being preventable. The International Classification of Disease Perinatal Mortality (ICD‐PM) is the first globally developed classification system for categorizing the causes of perinatal deaths. The objective of this study is to identify and describe the experiences gained from the international utilization of ICD‐PM. Method A scoping review based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA‐SCR) was conducted through a comprehensive search using relevant keywords in Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus from January 2016 to April 20, 2022 to identify relevant studies. The selection of studies was based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. After removing duplicate studies and reviewing titles, abstracts, and full texts, a total of 32 studies were included in the analysis. Results The primary search ended up with 229 studies, of which 32 articles were included in the final analysis. Based on the results of the content analysis conducted on the selected studies, six main themes and eight strategies were identified. Conclusion The findings suggest that the utilization of ICD‐PM on a global scale has been limited. The forthcoming advancement of ICD presents a chance to assess and enhance ICD‐PM to establish it as a universally recognized standard system for classifying perinatal mortalities.

Keywords

• classification of perinatal mortality
• ICD‐PM
• International Classification of Diseases
• perinatal deaths