Validation study of women's reporting and recall of major obstetric complications treated at the Philippine General Hospital

Abstract

In settings where most births occur at home, collection of data on complications experienced around the time of delivery is often dependent on self-reported data, collected through individual interviews. This paper describes a study designed to validate interview data on obstetric complications by comparing women's responses with data extracted from their medical records. The major complications of hemorrhage, dystocia, sepsis, and eclampsia were the main focus of the study. The sample was drawn from women hospitalized for delivery in a Manila hospital within the past 4 years. The main goal of the study was to assist in development of a survey instrument to be used in a national sample survey of women in the Philippines. The best sensitivity and specificity, respectively, for combinations of questions on these four conditions were: for hemorrhage, 0.70 and 0.78; for dystocia, 0.69 and 0.97; for sepsis, 0.89 and 0.83; and for eclampsia, 0.44 and 0.96. There were no significant differences in the duration of the recall periods according to diagnosis.

Pregnancy Complications as Markers for Subsequent Maternal Cardiovascular Disease: Validation of a Maternal Recall Questionnaire

“…[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] The questionnaire was piloted among the first 10 patients scheduled on a given day in both a general obstetrics and a maternal fetal medicine practice who agreed to complete the survey. A research assistant interviewed each patient following completion of the survey, recording feedback to refine the questionnaire accordingly.…”

Mortality after near-miss obstetric complications in Burkina Faso: medical, social and health-care factors

“…Women were recruited at hospital discharge to avoid exposure misclassification. 23 Of the 1014 women in the cohort, 337 had experienced a near-miss obstetric complication: the pregnancy ended in a live birth in 199 cases, in a perinatal death in 74 and in a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or abortion in 64. For each woman who had a near miss, we recruited an average of two unmatched controls from the seven hospitals.…”

Maternal morbidity and near miss in the community: findings from the 2006 Brazilian demographic health survey

“…7 In settings in which integrated epidemiological surveillance with wide geographical coverage is yet to be established, community-based surveys have been suggested as a possible source of information on maternal morbidity and mortality. [8][9][10][11] Indeed, for several years, demographic health surveys (DHSs) have been used to gather information on maternal and perinatal heath in several developing countries. 12 However, in the context of large, nationwide population surveys, few such studies have used formally validated questionnaires.…”

“…14,15 These estimates are based on maternal recall of complications, which may be unreliable as a result of variations in the perception of severity, misunderstandings about the complications themselves, and the time elapsed between the complication and the interview during which the information is obtained. 8,11,16,17 Despite these difficulties, population surveys using validated questionnaires have been able to provide useful information on the prevalence of maternal morbidities. 13 Thus, formal validation of questionnaires on maternal morbidity has been recommended to improve the quality of the information.…”