OBJECTIVES: Healthy People 2010 goals to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities that persist in the utilization of prenatal care (PNC) highlight the importance of measuring PNC as a variable in maternal and infant health outcomes research. These disparities are significantly correlated to adverse infant outcomes in preterm birth (PTB), a leading cause of infant mortality and life-long morbidity. Currently the most extensively used PNC adequacy indices (Kessner and Kotelchuck) were developed to measure outcomes in populations consisting mostly of full-term births. It is unclear whether these PNC adequacy indices are reliable when pregnancy is truncated due to PTB (<37 weeks). This paper compares and demonstrates how they can be applied in a specific PTB cohort. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: This secondary analysis of a nested case-control study compares Kessner and Kotelchuck adequacy scores of 367 mothers of PTB infants. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the rating of PNC inadequacy ( p<.001) depending on the PNC adequacy index used. CONCLUSION: Critical evaluation is warranted before using these PNC adequacy indices in future public health nursing and PTB research.
OBJECTIVES: Healthy People 2010 goals to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities that persist in the utilization of prenatal care (PNC) highlight the importance of measuring PNC as a variable in maternal and infant health outcomes research. These disparities are significantly correlated to adverse infant outcomes in preterm birth (PTB), a leading cause of infant mortality and life-long morbidity. Currently the most extensively used PNC adequacy indices (Kessner and Kotelchuck) were developed to measure outcomes in populations consisting mostly of full-term births. It is unclear whether these PNC adequacy indices are reliable when pregnancy is truncated due to PTB (<37 weeks). This paper compares and demonstrates how they can be applied in a specific PTB cohort. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: This secondary analysis of a nested case-control study compares Kessner and Kotelchuck adequacy scores of 367 mothers of PTB infants. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the rating of PNC inadequacy ( p<.001) depending on the PNC adequacy index used. CONCLUSION: Critical evaluation is warranted before using these PNC adequacy indices in future public health nursing and PTB research.
Authors: Bin Zhang; Rong Yang; Sheng-Wen Liang; Jing Wang; Jen Jen Chang; Ke Hu; Guang-Hui Dong; Rong-Hua Hu; Louise H Flick; Yi-Ming Zhang; Dan Zhang; Qing-Jie Li; Tong-Zhang Zheng; Shun-Qing Xu; Shao-Ping Yang; Zheng-Min Qian Journal: J Huazhong Univ Sci Technolog Med Sci Date: 2017-08-08
Authors: Jen Jen Chang; Jerome F Strauss; Jon P Deshazo; Fidelma B Rigby; David P Chelmow; George A Macones Journal: PLoS One Date: 2014-10-22 Impact factor: 3.240