Quality assessment indicators in antenatal care worldwide: a systematic review

To describe indicators used for the assessment of antenatal care (ANC) quality worldwide under the World Health Organization (WHO) framework and based on a systematic review of the literature.

Searches were performed in MEDLINE, SciELO, BIREME and Web of Science for eligible studies published between January 2002 and September 2016.

Original articles describing women who had received ANC, any ANC model and, any ANC quality indicators were included.

Publication date, study design and ANC process indicators were extracted.

Of the total studies included, 69 evaluated at least one type of ANC process indicator. According to WHO ANC guidelines, 8.7% of the articles reported healthy eating counseling and 52.2% iron and folic acid supplementation. The evaluation indicators on maternal and fetal interventions were: syphilis testing (55.1%), HIV testing (47.8%), gestational diabetes mellitus screening (40.6%) and ultrasound (27.5%). Essential ANC activities assessment ranged from 26.1% report of fetal heart sound, 50.7% of maternal weight and 63.8% of blood pressure. Regarding preventive measures recommended by WHO, tetanus vaccine was reported in 60.9% of the articles. Interventions performed by health services to improve use and quality of ANC care, promotion of maternal and fetal health, and the number of visits to the ANC were evaluated in 65.2% of the studies.

Numerous ANC content indicators are being used to assess ANC quality. However, there is a need to use standardized indicators across countries and efforts to improve quality evaluation.