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Published on: August 25, 2014
Should European perinatal indicators be revisited?
João V Santos1, Cláudia Correia, Filipe Cabral
1Department of Health Information and Decision Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal; CINTESIS - Center for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems, Portugal.
Summary
European experts
Area of Science:
- Perinatal medicine
- Public health surveillance
- Healthcare quality assessment
Background:
- The EURO-PERISTAT project established recommendations for perinatal indicators.
- Assessing the relevance of these indicators is crucial for monitoring European healthcare performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To survey European physicians and researchers on the relevance of perinatal indicators.
- To compare expert opinions with existing EURO-PERISTAT recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 134 perinatal medicine experts across 21 European countries.
- Web-based survey rating the relevance of 25 selected perinatal indicators.
- Descriptive statistics used for data summarization.
Main Results:
- Top-rated indicators included neonatal mortality, preterm birth management, severe maternal morbidity, severe neonatal morbidity, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
- Only neonatal mortality by gestational age, birth weight, and plurality was a 2003 core indicator.
- Indicators previously needing development, such as severe neonatal morbidity and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, are now highly relevant to experts.
Conclusions:
- Expert opinions on perinatal indicator relevance may differ from current EURO-PERISTAT recommendations.
- A revision of the perinatal indicator set is necessary for a comprehensive evaluation of European healthcare systems.
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