ArticlePloS one2019
"What gets measured better gets done better": The landscape of validation of global maternal and newborn health indicators through key informant interviews.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 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.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The development of proxy indicators to measure workforce well-being in emergency obstetric and neonatal care settings.Journal of global health · 2025Pooled it
- Quality and Safety Indicators in Neonatal Care: An Integrative Review of Their Evolution.Portuguese journal of public health · 2026Review
- Development-centred neonatal care: validation study of the patient safety checklist.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Strategies to improve outcomes of obstetric emergencies in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Surgical indicators for obstetrics and family planning in routine health information systems: a landscape analysis.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- Neonatal indicator data in Tanzania District Health Information System: evaluation of availability and quality of selected newborn indicators, 2015-2022.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Measuring social, economic, policy, and health system determinants of maternal health and survival: An urgent global priority.PloS one · 2025Article
- 'Global health action · 2024Article
- The experience of occupational therapists and physiotherapists using a prototype, evidence-informed online knowledge translation resource to learn about patient-defined, personally-meaningful chronic pain rehabilitation.British journal of pain · 2024Article
- Assessing the validity of maternal report on breastfeeding counselling in Kosovo's primary health facilities.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Improvements in Obstetric and Newborn Health Information Documentation following the Implementation of the Safer Births Bundle of Care at 30 Facilities in Tanzania.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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- Article
- A scoping review, mapping, and prioritisation process for emergency obstetric and neonatal quality of care indicators: Focus on provision and experience of care.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- Demand Forecasting Approaches for New Contraceptive Technologies: A Landscape Review and Recommendations for Alignment.Global health, science and practice · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Measures to assess quality of postnatal care: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Improving measures of access to legal abortion: A validation study triangulating multiple data sources to assess a global indicator.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA large number of indicators are currently used to monitor the state of maternal and newborn health, including those capturing dimensions of health system and input, care access and availability, care quality and safety, coverage and outcomes, and impact. Validity of these indicators is a key issue in the process of assessing indicator performance and suitability. This paper aims to understand the meaning of indicator validity in the field of maternal and newborn health, and to identify key recommendations for future research.
methodsThis qualitative study used purposive sampling to identify key informants until thematic saturation was achieved. We interviewed 32 respondents from a variety of backgrounds using semi-structured interviews covering five themes: the meaning of indicator validity, methodological approaches to assessing validity, acceptable levels of indicator validity, gaps in validation research, and recommendations for addressing these gaps. Interview transcripts were analysed data using thematic content approach.
resultsThree conceptually different definitions of indicator validity were described by respondents. They considered indicator validity to encompass meaning and potential to spur action, going beyond diagnostic validity. Indicator validation was seen as an ongoing process of building and synthesising a wide range of evidence rather than a one-size-fits-all cut-off in diagnostic validity tests. Gaps identified included assessing validity of indicators of quality of care and indicators based on facility-level data, as well as expanding studies to a broader range of global settings. The key recommendation was to develop a coordinated approach to summarising and evaluating research on indicator validity, including capacity building in appraising and communicating the available evidence for country-specific needs.
conclusionThe findings will inform future recommendations around indicator testing and validation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.