ArticleMaternal and child health journal1998
How well do birth certificates describe the pregnancies they report? The Washington State experience with low-risk pregnancies.
Article in Maternal and child health journal, 1998. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
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- The risk of preterm birth and growth restriction in pregnancy after cancer.International journal of cancer · 2017Article
- Comparison of birth certificates and hospital-based birth data on pregnancy complications in Los Angeles and Orange County, California.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2016Article
- A Longitudinal Study of Changes in Prenatal Care Utilization Between First and Second Births and Low Birth Weight.Maternal and child health journal · 2015Article
- The association between temporal changes in the use of obstetrical intervention and small-for-gestational age live births.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2015Article
- Preterm birth among American Indian/Alaskan natives in Washington and Montana: comparison with non-Hispanic Whites.Maternal and child health journal · 2013Article
- Maternal prenatal weight gain and autism spectrum disorders.Pediatrics · 2013Article
- Racial and ethnic differences in primary, unscheduled cesarean deliveries among low-risk primiparous women at an academic medical center: a retrospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2013Article
- Airborne PM2.5 chemical components and low birth weight in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.Environmental health perspectives · 2012Article
- Perinatal characteristics and retinoblastoma.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2012Article
- History of the birth certificate: from inception to the future of electronic data.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2012Article
- Adverse birth outcomes among Korean women compared to white women in the United States.Maternal and child health journal · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesBirth certificates are a major source of population-based data on maternal and perinatal health, but their value depends on the accuracy of the data. This study assesses the validity of information recorded on the birth certificates for women in Washington State who were considered to be low risk at entry into care.
methodsBirth certificates were matched to data abstracted from prenatal and intrapartum clinic and hospital records of a sample of 1937 Washington State obstetrical patients who were considered to be low risk at the beginning of their pregnancies. Accuracy of a variety of pregnancy characteristics (e.g., complications, procedures) on the birth certificate was analyzed using percentage agreement and sensitivity with record abstracts as the "gold standard." Next, we weighted the data from each source to produce estimates of pregnancy characteristics in the population. We compared these estimates from the two data sources to see whether they provide similar pictures of this subpopulation.
resultsMissing data for specific items on the birth certificates ranged from 0% to 24%. The birth certificate accurately captured gravidity and parity, but was less likely to report prenatal and intrapartum complications. The population estimates of the two data sources were significantly different.
conclusionsBecause birth certificates significantly underestimated the complications of pregnancies, number of interventions, number of procedures, and prenatal visits, use of these data for health policy development or resource allocation should be tempered with caution.
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Registered trials
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