Antenatal corticosteroid administration: understanding its use as an obstetric quality metric

In 1994, the National Institutes of Health recommended a full course of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) to women who were at risk of delivery at 24-32 weeks of gestation. In 2010, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization incorporated ACS administration rates as a perinatal core quality measure. The objective of this study is (1) to assess ACS administration rates among eligible patients at a tertiary care center and (2) to identify modifiable factors to optimize administration rates.

A retrospective chart review of preterm deliveries at <37 weeks of gestation from July 2009 to July 2011 was performed. Hospital level data, delivery information, obstetric history, and neonatal outcomes were abstracted. Categoric variables were compared with the use of the χ(2) test. Continuous variables were compared with the use of a 2-sample t-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum, or Kruskal Wallis tests.

Nine hundred four women had preterm delivery; 38% of them delivered from 24-34 weeks of gestation. Of the eligible patients, 81.3% received at least 1 dose of ACS, and 69.6% received both doses before delivery. The median time from evaluation to ACS administration was 2.6 hours (interquartile range, 1.6-4.8 hours). Thirty-three percent of the patients who did not receive ACS had had a previous triage visit within 2 weeks of delivery (66.6% of them were evaluated for symptoms of preterm labor) vs 2.8% for those women who received ACS.

Of the eligible patients, 81.3% received at least 1 dose of ACS. Tangible opportunities that were identified for systems-based improvement in ACS administration rates included decreasing the time interval from patient evaluation to ACS administration and standardizing outpatient follow-up evaluation for patients who were discharged with symptoms of preterm labor.