"Sharp downward, blunt upward": district maternal death audits' challenges to formulate evidence-based recommendations in Indonesia - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Indonesia, the largest archipelago globally with a decentralized health system, faces a stagnant high maternal mortality ratio (MMR). The disparity factors among regions and inequities in access have deterred the local assessments in preventing similar maternal deaths. This study explored the challenges of district maternal death audit (MDA) committees to provide evidence-based recommendations for local adaptive practices in reducing maternal mortality. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with four focus-group discussions in Central Java, Indonesia, between July and October 2019. Purposive sampling was used to select 7-8 members of each district audit committee. Data were analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. Triangulation was done by member checking, peer debriefing, and reviewing audit documentation. RESULTS: The district audit committees had significant challenges to develop appropriate recommendations and action plans, involving: 1) non-informative audit tool provides unreliable data for review; 2) unstandardized clinical indicators and the practice of "sharp downward, blunt upward"; 3) unaccountable hospital support and lack of leadership commitment, and 4) blaming culture, minimal training, and insufficient MDA committee' skills. The district audit committees tended to associated maternal death in lower and higher-level health facilities (hospitals) with mismanagement and unavoidable cause, respectively. These unfavorable cultures discourage transparency and prevent continuing improvement, leading to failure in addressing maternal death's local avoidable factors. CONCLUSION: A productive MDA is required to provide an evidence-based recommendation. A strong partnership between the key hospital decision-makers and district health officers is needed for quality evidence-based policymaking and adaptive practice to prevent maternal death.

The reliability of maternal audit instruments to assign cause of death in maternal deaths review process: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Maternal Death Reviews (MDR) can assist in formulating prevention strategies to reduce maternal mortality. To support MDR, an adequate MDR instrument is required to accurately identify the underlying causes of maternal deaths. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the reliability of maternal death instruments for conducting the MDR process. METHOD: Three databases: PubMed, ProQuest and EBSCO were systematically searched to identify related research articles published between January 2004 and July 2019. The review and meta-analysis involved identification of measurement tools to conduct MDR in all or part of maternal audit. Eligibiliy and quality of studies were evaluated using the Modified Quality Appraisal of Diagnostic Reliability (QAREL) Checklist: Reliability Studies. RESULTS: Overall, 242 articles were identified. Six articles examining the instrument used for MDR in 4 countries (4 articles on verbal autopsy (VA) and 2 articles on facility-based MDR) were included. None of studies identified reliability in evaluation instruments assessing maternal audit cycle as a comprehensive approach. The pooled kappa for the MDR instruments was 0.72 (95%CI:0.43-0.99; p < 0.001) with considerable heterogeneity (I2 = 96.19%; p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis of MDR instruments showed pooled kappa in VA of 0.89 (95%CI:0.52-1.25) and facility-based MDR of 0.48 (95%CI:0.15-0.82). Meta-regression analysis tended to show the high heterogeneity was likely associated with sample sizes, regions, and year of publications. CONCLUSIONS: The MDR instruments appear feasible. Variation of the instruments suggest the need for judicious selection of MDR instruments by considering the study population and assessment during the target periods.