Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32414818›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2020

Impact evaluation of the free maternal healthcare policy on the risk of neonatal and infant deaths in four sub-Saharan African countries: a quasi-experimental design with propensity score Kernel matching and difference in differences analysis.

Duah Dwomoh, Kofi Agyabeng, Kwame Agbeshie, Gabriel Incoom, Priscilla Nortey, Alfred Yawson, Samuel Bosomprah

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Difference-in-differences analysis with repeated cross-sectional survey data.Health services & outcomes research methodology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Duah DwomohBiostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Ghana College of Health Sciences, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana duahdwomoh@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0002-2726-9929
Kofi AgyabengBiostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Ghana College of Health Sciences, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana.
Kwame AgbeshieMunicipal Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Eastern Region, Somanya, Ghana.
Gabriel IncoomDepartment of Management Science, School of Business, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana.
Priscilla NorteyEpidemiology, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana.
Alfred YawsonCommunity Health, School of Public, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Greater Accra, Ghana.
Samuel BosomprahBiostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Ghana College of Health Sciences, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana.
University of Ghana · GHGhana Health Service · GHGhana Institute of Management and Public Administration · GH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveDespite the huge financial investment in the free maternal healthcare policy (FMHCP) by the Governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso, no study has quantified the impact of FMHCP on the relative reduction in neonatal and infant mortality rates using a more rigorous matching procedure with the difference in differences (DID) analysis. This study used several rounds of publicly available population-based complex survey data to determine the impact of FMHCP on neonatal and infant mortality rates in these two countries.

designA quasi-experimental study to evaluate the FMHCP implemented in Burkina Faso and Ghana between 2007 and 2014.

settingDemographic and health surveys and maternal health surveys conducted between 2000 and 2014 in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Zambia.

participantsChildren born 5 years preceding the survey in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Zambia. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Neonatal and infant mortality rates.

resultsThe Propensity Score Kernel Matching coupled with DID analysis with modified Poisson showed that the FMHCP was associated with a 45% reduction in the risk of neonatal mortality rate in Ghana and Burkina Faso compared with Nigeria and Zambia (adjusted relative risk (aRR)=0.55, 95% CI: 0.40 to 0.76, p<0.001). In addition, infant mortality rate has reduced significantly in both Ghana and Burkina Faso by approximately 54% after full implementation of FMHCP compared with Nigeria and Zambia (aRR=0.46, 95% CI: 0.36 to 0.59, p<0.001).

conclusionThe FMHCP had a significant impact and still remains relevant in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 and could provide lessons for other sub-Saharan countries in the design and implementation of a similar policy.

Indexed as

Health PolicyInfant MortalityResearch DesignAfrica, NorthernBurkina FasoChildFemaleGhanaHumansInfantInfant DeathInfant, NewbornMaleNigeriaPregnancyPropensity Scorefree maternal healthcare policyinfant mortalityneonatal mortalitypublic health

Identifiers

PMID32414818
PMCPMC7232624
OpenAlexW3024281384

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.