TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a call center to assess post-discharge maternal and early neonatal outcomes of facility-based childbirth in Uttar Pradesh, India
AU - Gass, Jonathon D.
AU - Semrau, Katherine
AU - Sana, Fatima
AU - Mankar, Anup
AU - Singh, Vinay Pratap
AU - Fisher-Bowman, Jennifer
AU - Neal, Brandon J.
AU - Tuller, Danielle E.
AU - Kumar, Bharath
AU - Lipsitz, Stuart
AU - Sharma, Narender
AU - Kodkany, Bhala
AU - Kumar, Vishwajeet
AU - Gawande, Atul
AU - Hirschhorn, Lisa R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Gass et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - Background Maternal and neonatal outcomes in the immediate post-delivery period are critical indicators of quality of care. Data on childbirth outcomes in low-income settings usually require home visits, which can be constrained by cost and access. We report on the use of a call center to measure post-discharge outcomes within a multi-site improvement study of facility-based childbirth in Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods Of women delivering at study sites eligible for inclusion, 97.9% (n = 157,689) consented to follow-up. All consenting women delivering at study facilities were eligible to receive a phone call between days eight and 42 post-partum to obtain outcomes for the seven-day period after birth. Women unable to be contacted via phone were visited at home. Outcomes, including maternal and early neonatal mortality and maternal morbidity, were ascertained using a standardized script developed from validated survey questions. Data Quality Assurance (DQA) included accuracy (double coding of calls) and validity (consistency between two calls to the same household). Regression models were used to identify factors associated with inconsistency. Findings Over 23 months, outcomes were obtained by the call center for 98.0% (154,494/157,689) consenting women and their neonates. 87.9% of call center-obtained outcomes were captured by phone call alone and 12.1% required the assistance of a field worker. An additional 1.7% were obtained only by a field worker, 0.3% were lost-to-follow-up, and only 0.1% retracted consent. The call center captured outcomes with a median of 1 call (IQR 1–2). DQA found 98.0% accuracy; data validation demonstrated 93.7% consistency between the first and second call. In a regression model, significant predictors of inconsistency included cases with adverse outcomes (p<0.001), and different respondents on the first and validation call (p<0.001). Conclusions In areas with widespread mobile cell phone access and coverage, a call center is a viable and efficient approach for measurement of post-discharge childbirth outcomes.
AB - Background Maternal and neonatal outcomes in the immediate post-delivery period are critical indicators of quality of care. Data on childbirth outcomes in low-income settings usually require home visits, which can be constrained by cost and access. We report on the use of a call center to measure post-discharge outcomes within a multi-site improvement study of facility-based childbirth in Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods Of women delivering at study sites eligible for inclusion, 97.9% (n = 157,689) consented to follow-up. All consenting women delivering at study facilities were eligible to receive a phone call between days eight and 42 post-partum to obtain outcomes for the seven-day period after birth. Women unable to be contacted via phone were visited at home. Outcomes, including maternal and early neonatal mortality and maternal morbidity, were ascertained using a standardized script developed from validated survey questions. Data Quality Assurance (DQA) included accuracy (double coding of calls) and validity (consistency between two calls to the same household). Regression models were used to identify factors associated with inconsistency. Findings Over 23 months, outcomes were obtained by the call center for 98.0% (154,494/157,689) consenting women and their neonates. 87.9% of call center-obtained outcomes were captured by phone call alone and 12.1% required the assistance of a field worker. An additional 1.7% were obtained only by a field worker, 0.3% were lost-to-follow-up, and only 0.1% retracted consent. The call center captured outcomes with a median of 1 call (IQR 1–2). DQA found 98.0% accuracy; data validation demonstrated 93.7% consistency between the first and second call. In a regression model, significant predictors of inconsistency included cases with adverse outcomes (p<0.001), and different respondents on the first and validation call (p<0.001). Conclusions In areas with widespread mobile cell phone access and coverage, a call center is a viable and efficient approach for measurement of post-discharge childbirth outcomes.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0207987
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0207987
M3 - Article
C2 - 30481209
AN - SCOPUS:85057258579
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 13
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 11
M1 - e0207987
ER -
