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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Neonatology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1534773
This article is part of the Research Topic Maternal and Infant Nutrition: Impact on Breast Milk, Infant Gut Microbiota and Health Development View all 3 articles
Economic evaluations of human milk for very preterm infants: a systematic review
Provisionally accepted
Anfeng Lu 1
Peilu Huang 1 Xin Guo 2 Li Zhu 1 Lei Bi 1 Ruirui Xing 3
Zhangbin Yu 3
Hong Tang 4* Guosheng Huang 1*- 1 Qinzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Guangxi, China
- 2 Longgang District Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital of Shenzhen City (Longgang Maternity and Child Institute of Shantou University Medical College), Shenzhen, China
- 3 Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, the First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, China
- 4 Yantian District People's Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Background: Very preterm infants are highly vulnerable to complications, imposing a significant economic burden on healthcare systems. Human milk has protective effects on these infants, but there is no systematic review on its economic impact. Objective: We conducted a comprehensive review of studies assessing the economic evaluations of human milk for very preterm infants. Methods: Our literature search covered PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Two reviewers independently extracted data on economic evaluations and assessed study quality using the Pediatric Quality Appraisal Questionnaire (PQAQ).Results: Fourteen studies of moderate quality, conducted in the United States, Germany, and Canada, met the inclusion criteria. However, the studies analyzed had notable variations and shortcomings. The majority of these studies (n=11) performed economic evaluations from a healthcare system perspective, utilizing cost-consequence analysis (n= 6) up to the point of neonatal discharge (n=11). All human milk interventions indicated cost-effective or cost saving results; only a minority included discounting (n=2).Conclusion: This systematic review suggests that economic evaluation of human milk for very preterm infants is an expanding area of research. Human milk for very preterm infants offers substantial economic advantages during neonatal intensive care unit hospitalization. Standardized and high-quality studies are needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of human milk for very preterm infants in the future.
Keywords: human milk, preterm infants, Cost-Effectiveness, economic evaluation, Health Outcomes
Received: 26 Nov 2024; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Huang, Guo, Zhu, Bi, Xing, Yu, Tang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hong Tang, Yantian District People's Hospital, Shenzhen, 518081, Guangdong Province, China
Guosheng Huang, Qinzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Guangxi, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.