Outcomes to measure the effects of pharmacological interventions for pain management for women during labour and birth: a review of systematic reviews and randomised trials

Abstract

Pharmacological pain management options can relieve women’s pain during labour and birth. Trials of these interventions have used a wide variety of outcomes, complicating meaningful comparisons of their effects. To facilitate better assessment of the effectiveness of labour pain management in trials and meta-analyses, consensus about key outcomes and the development of a core outcome set is essential. Objective To identify all outcomes used in studies of pharmacological pain management interventions during labour and birth. Design A review of systematic reviews and their included randomised controlled trials was undertaken. Search strategy Cochrane CENTRAL was searched to identify all Cochra..