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Evaluation of a hospital-based surveillance system for birth defects in Chennai, India
Anoop Velayudhan1, Suresh Seshadri2, Sujatha Jagadeesan2
1Epidemic Intelligence Service India Programme-National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, India.
Insights
The Birth Defects Registry of India-Chennai (BDRI-C) is a simple, flexible system for monitoring birth defects. While timely, its low coverage and data completeness need improvement for better public health insights.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Surveillance
- Epidemiology
- Birth Defects Monitoring
Background:
- The Birth Defects Registry of India-Chennai (BDRI-C) was established in 2001.
- Its primary goal is to monitor birth defects and facilitate timely referrals for affected newborns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the BDRI-C surveillance system using established criteria.
- To identify areas for improvement to strengthen the registry's effectiveness and data quality.
Main Methods:
- Systematic evaluation of BDRI-C attributes: simplicity, flexibility, data quality, representativeness, acceptability, timeliness, and stability.
- Review of registry documents and reporting forms.
- Interviews with key informants.
- Calculation of data completeness, coverage, and reporting time.
Main Results:
- BDRI-C captured only 14% of births in Chennai between April 2013 and March 2014.
- Approximately 7% of Chennai institutions were registered, with only 37% providing data in 2013.
- The median reporting time was 44 days post-birth in 2013.
Conclusions:
- BDRI-C functions as a useful, simple, flexible, and timely passive surveillance system.
- Enhancements are needed to improve representativeness, ongoing data quality checks, and institutional acceptability for system stability.
Abstract:
The Birth Defects Registry of India-Chennai (BDRI-C) was created in 2001 to monitor birth defects and provide timely referrals. Using established guidelines to evaluate surveillance systems, we examined the following attributes of BDRI-C to help strengthen the registry: simplicity, flexibility, data quality, representativeness, acceptability, timeliness, and stability. We reviewed BDRI-C documents, including reporting forms; interviewed key informants; and calculated data completeness, coverage, and reporting time. BDRI-C captured 14% of the births in Chennai April 2013 - March 2014. About 7% of institutions in Chennai registered in BDRI-C, and of those registered, 37% provided data in 2013. Median reporting time was 44 days after birth in 2013. BDRI-C is a useful, simple, flexible, and timely passive birth defects surveillance system; however, improvements can be made to ensure BDRI-C is representative of Chennai, data processing and quality checks are on-going, and the system is acceptable for member institutions and stable.
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