0000000000899901
AUTHOR
Giovanna Fantaci
Key-indicators for maternity hospitals and newborn readmission in Sicily
This paper proposes a composite indicator for the classification of maternity units, which takes into account for the different dimensions of service delivery, as potential predictors of health outcomes. As a measure of outcome, infant readmissions is considered, being a proxy of morbidity. The results highlight that after controlling for risk factors of the newborn, and for the presence of neonatal intensive unit, infants born in lower level hospitals show readmission rates higher than infants born in higher level hospitals.
[A composite indicator for maternity hospital classification].
OBJECTIVES: to propose a composite indicator for maternity hospital classification. DESIGN: descriptive analysis of maternity hospitals through a composite indicator and analysis of its association with infant readmissions within 30 days from the childbirth. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 56 maternity units in Sicily, accounting for 44.436 newborns in 2014. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: infant readmission rates within 30 days from the childbirth. RESULTS: low-level hospitals show higher infant readmission rates (odds ratio: 1.3) which may be seen as a signal of inappropriateness of maternity care. CONCLUSIONS: the proposed indicator allows for a classification of maternity hospitals taking into account…