Assessing hospital differences in low-risk cesarean delivery metrics in Florida.

BACKGROUND: Unnecessary cesarean deliveries lead to increased maternal and neonatal morbidities and mortalities. In 2020, Florida had a cesarean delivery rate of 35.9%, the third highest in the nation. An effective quality improvement strategy to reduce overall cesarean delivery rates is to decrease primary cesarean deliveries in low-risk births (nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex). Of note, 3 nationally accepted hospital measures of low-risk cesarean delivery rates include the nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex; Joint Commission; and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine metrics. Comparing metrics is necessary because accurate and timely measurement is essential to support multihospital quality improvement efforts to reduce low-risk cesarean delivery rates and improve the quality of maternal care. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess differences in hospital low-risk cesarean delivery rates in Florida using 5 different metrics of low-risk cesarean delivery rate based on (1) risk methodology, nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex; Joint Commission; and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine metrics, and (2) data source, linked birth certificate and hospital discharge records and hospital discharge records only. STUDY DESIGN: This was a population-based study of live Florida births from 2016 to 2019 to compare 5 approaches to calculating low-risk cesarean delivery rates. Analyses were performed using linked birth certificate data and inpatient hospital discharge data. The 5 low-risk cesarean delivery measures were defined as follows: nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex birth certificate; Joint Commission-linked used Joint Commission exclusions; Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine-linked used Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine exclusions; Joint Commission hospital discharge with Joint Commission exclusions; and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine hospital discharge with Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine exclusions. Nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex birth certificate was based on data from birth certificates and not using linked hospital discharge data. Designated as nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex, it does not exclude other high-risk conditions. The second and third measures (Joint Commission-linked used Joint Commission exclusions and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine-linked used Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine exclusions) use data elements from the full-linked dataset to designate nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex and excluded several high-risk conditions. The last 2 measures (Joint Commission hospital discharge with Joint Commission exclusions; and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine hospital discharge with Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine exclusions) were based on data from hospital discharge data only and not using linked birth certificate data. These measures generally reflect term, singleton, and vertex because parity could not be assessed adequately on hospital discharge data. Hospital differences between these 5 measures were calculated overall and by neonatal intensive care unit level. RESULTS: Overall, the median of hospital low-risk cesarean rates decreased across the measures, from NTSV-BC 30.7%, to Joint Commission linked 29.1%, and Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine hospital discharge 29.2% with a large decrease to Joint Commission hospital discharge 19.4% and Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine hospital discharge 18.1%. A similar trend was seen by neonatal intensive care unit level. For each of the measures, level II had the highest median low-risk cesarean rates (nulliparous. term, singleton, vertex birth certificate) 32.7%, Joint Commission linked (31.4%), Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine linked: 31.1%, Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine hospital discharge 19.3%), except for level III Joint Commission hospital discharge (20.0%). A comparison of the median number of low-risk births overall and by neonatal intensive care unit level showed a decreasing number across the linked and hospital discharge measures. Again, a wide gap in low-risk cesarean delivery rates was identified between linked measures and hospital discharge measures. However, this gap narrowed as hospital rates increased. CONCLUSION: Quality monitoring of low-risk cesarean delivery rates measured by the nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex metric using the birth certificate was fairly accurate and provided timely assessment for use by Florida hospitals. The nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex birth certificate rates were comparable with low-risk metrics using the linked data source. Overall, metrics used within the same data source had similar rates, with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine metric having the lowest rates. Across data sources, metrics using hospital discharge data only resulted in substantially underestimated rates because of the inclusion of multiparous women and should be interpreted with caution.

Race and Ethnicity Misclassification in Hospital Discharge Data and the Impact on Differences in Severe Maternal Morbidity Rates in Florida.

Hospital discharge (HD) records contain important information that is used in public health and health care sectors. It is becoming increasingly common to rely mostly or exclusively on HD data to assess and monitor severe maternal morbidity (SMM) overall and by sociodemographic characteristics, including race and ethnicity. Limited studies have validated race and ethnicity in HD or provided estimates on the impact of assessing health differences in maternity populations. This study aims to determine the differences in race and ethnicity reporting between HD and birth certificate (BC) data for maternity hospitals in Florida and to estimate the impact of race and ethnicity misclassification on state- and hospital-specific SMM rates. We conducted a population-based retrospective study of live births using linked BC and HD records from 2016 to 2019 (n = 783,753). BC data were used as the gold standard. Race and ethnicity were categorized as non-Hispanic (NH)-White, NH-Black, Hispanic, NH-Asian Pacific Islander (API), and NH-American Indian or Alaskan Native (AIAN). Overall, race and ethnicity misclassification and its impact on SMM at the state- and hospital levels were estimated. At the state level, NH-AIAN women were the most misclassified (sensitivity: 28.2%; positive predictive value (PPV): 25.2%) and were commonly classified as NH-API (30.3%) in HD records. NH-API women were the next most misclassified (sensitivity: 57.3%; PPV: 85.4%) and were commonly classified as NH-White (5.8%) or NH-other (5.5%). At the hospital level, wide variation in sensitivity and PPV with negative skewing was identified, particularly for NH-White, Hispanic, and NH-API women. Misclassification did not result in large differences in SMM rates at the state level for all race and ethnicity categories except for NH-AIAN women (% difference 78.7). However, at the hospital level, Hispanic women had wide variability of a percent difference in SMM rates and were more likely to have underestimated SMM rates. Reducing race and ethnicity misclassification on HD records is key in assessing and addressing SMM differences and better informing surveillance, research, and quality improvement efforts.

Effectiveness of a 24/7 Dad® Curriculum in Improving Father Involvement: Profiles of Engagement.

BACKGROUND OR OBJECTIVES: Father involvement is a key component in maintaining healthy families and communities. This study presents quantitative results of the first five years of a comprehensive fatherhood training program offered by REACHUP, Inc. in Florida, United States. METHODS: The program utilized the 24/7 Dad ® curriculum for the fatherhood training program. Key program outcome was differences in pre and post-test scores on self-awareness, fathering skills, parenting skills, relationship skills, and self-care. Demographic and pretest-posttest data collected between 2013 and 2017 were analyzed using chi-square test for categorical variables, McNemar's test for differences in proportions pre- and post-intervention, paired sample t-test to compare means in pretest and posttest scores and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the difference between means across years and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Attendance in the program increased yearly, nearly doubling from 55 participants in 2013 to 97 in 2017. The mean pretest score was 8.90 (±4.04) and the mean posttest score was 16.42 (±4.54) out of 22 total points, representing a highly significant positive effect of the program on self-awareness, fathering skills, parenting skills, relationship skills and self-care which will enable men to establish long-lasting positive relationships with their children. There were significant differences by demographic characteristics. Younger participants tended to score lower on the pretest but made the most knowledge gains following the training as indicated by the difference in pre- and posttest scores (<0.001). CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Increasing yearly attendance indicates the notion of male involvement is gaining momentum. An important lesson learned over the five-year period is that not all males who participated in the program were biological fathers of infants, young children or adolescents. Many participants were grandfathers, uncles and family friends, indicating that the benefits of a male involvement program can extend beyond the boundaries of biological fatherhood.

Evaluation of an Evidence-based and Community-responsive Fatherhood Training Program: Providers' Perspective.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Studies on male involvement and pregnancy outcomes have often not incorporated the providers' perspectives, which are potentially critical to understanding program context, evolution, perceived impact, and sustainability. We sought to evaluate the 24/7 Dad® program from the viewpoint of the program providers. METHODS: We conducted purposive sampling of 24/7 Dad program facilitators and administrators who were involved in recruitment, training, and follow up of program participants within a federal Healthy Start program (REACHUP) in Tampa, Florida, USA. Using a snowballing approach, we recruited six key informants who had administered the program for at least four years. We elicited and evaluated factors impacting the performance of the father involvement program using content analysis. RESULTS: Under program participation and perceived impact, most providers thought that the program had created a safe space previously unavailable for men in the community. The most useful recruitment strategy was building partnerships with other organizations. The key informants noted an important evolutionary trend in the father involvement program over time as well as the nature of linkages to partner organizations within the area. Threats to program sustainability included the continued reluctance and scepticism to invest funds to address male issues, sub-optimal retention of participants who were living transient lives as well as geographical/transportation barriers. CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: The involvement of fathers during pregnancy has significant implications for healthy babies. Our study results provide a clarion call to augment capacity and infuse more resources to improve paternal involvement in order to attain the United Nations Sustainable Goal (2015-2030) of ensuring healthy lives and the promotion of well-being for all at all ages.