The equity impact of a universal child health promotion programme

Real-world evaluations of complex interventions are scarce. We evaluated the effect of the Salut Programme, a universal child health promotion intervention in northern Sweden, on income-related inequalities in positive birth outcomes and healthcare utilisation up to 2 years after delivery.

Using the mother's place of residence at delivery, the child and the mother were classified as belonging to either the control area (received care-as-usual) or the intervention area (where the intervention was implemented from 2006) and either the premeasure (children born between 2002 and 2004) or the postmeasure (children born between 2006 and 2008) period. Parents' earned income was used as the socioeconomic ranking variable. The Relative Concentration Index was computed for six binary birth outcome indicators and for inpatient and day patient care for children and their mothers. Changes in inequality over time were compared using a difference-in-difference approach.

Income-related inequalities in birth outcomes and child healthcare utilisation were absent, except that full-term pregnancies were concentrated among the poor at premeasure in the intervention area. In contrast, mothers' healthcare utilisation was significantly pro-poor in the control area. The extent of inequality changed differentially between premeasure and postmeasure for two birth outcomes: full-term pregnancies and infants with normal birth weight. Inequalities in healthcare utilisation did not change significantly in either area over time.

In northern Sweden, income-related inequalities in birth outcomes and child healthcare utilisation are largely absent. However, relative inequalities in mothers' healthcare utilisation are large. We found no evidence that the Salut Programme affected changes in inequality over time.