The effect of the Family Case Management Program on 1996 birth outcomes in Illinois

The purpose of this study was to determine if birth outcomes for Medicaid recipients were improved with participation in the Illinois Family Case Management Program.

Health program data files were linked with the 1996 Illinois Vital Records linked birth-death certificate file. Logistic regression was used to characterize the variation in birth outcomes as a function of Family Case Management participation while statistically controlling for measurable factors found to be confounders.

Results of the logistic regression analysis show that women who participated in the Family Care Management Program were significantly less likely to give birth to very low birth weight infants (odds ratio [OR] = 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.75, 0.99) and low birth weight infants (OR = 0.83, CI = 0.79, 0.89). For infant mortality, however, the adjusted OR (OR = 0.98, CI = 0.82, 1.17), although under 1, was not statistically significant.

These results suggest that the Family Case Management Program may be effective in reducing very low birth weight and low birth weight rates among infants born to low-income women.