Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34253660›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Associations between community health workers' home visits and education-based inequalities in institutional delivery and perinatal mortality in rural Uttar Pradesh, India: a cross-sectional study.

Andrea Katryn Blanchard, Tim Colbourn, Audrey Prost, Banadakoppa Manjappa Ramesh, Shajy Isac, John Anthony, Bidyadhar Dehury, Tanja A J Houweling

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

8 authors.

Andrea Katryn BlanchardInstitute for Global Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada andrea.blanchard@umanitoba.ca.ORCID 0000-0002-5118-8942
Tim ColbournInstitute for Global Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Audrey ProstInstitute for Global Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Banadakoppa Manjappa RameshInstitute for Global Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Shajy IsacInstitute for Global Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
John AnthonyInstitute for Global Public Health, Department of Community Health Sciences, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Bidyadhar DehuryIndia Health Action Trust, Lucknow, India.
Tanja A J HouwelingDepartment of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionIndia's National Health Mission has trained community health workers called Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to visit and counsel women before and after birth. Little is known about the extent to which exposure to ASHAs' home visits has reduced perinatal health inequalities as intended. This study aimed to examine whether ASHAs' third trimester home visits may have contributed to equitable improvements in institutional delivery and reductions in perinatal mortality rates (PMRs) between women with varying education levels in Uttar Pradesh (UP) state, India.

methodsCross-sectional survey data were collected from a representative sample of 52 615 women who gave birth in the preceding 2 months in rural areas of 25 districts of UP in 2014-2015. We analysed the data using generalised linear modelling to examine the associations between exposure to home visits and education-based inequalities in institutional delivery and PMRs.

resultsThird trimester home visits were associated with higher institutional delivery rates, in particular public facility delivery rates (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 1.32, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.34), and to a lesser extent private facility delivery rates (aRR 1.09, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.13), after adjusting for confounders. Associations were stronger among women with lower education levels. Having no compared with any third trimester home visits was associated with higher perinatal mortality (aRR 1.18, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.28). Having any versus no visits was more highly associated with lower perinatal mortality among women with lower education levels than those with the most education, and most notably among public facility births.

conclusionsThe results suggest that ASHAs' home visits in the third trimester contributed to equitable improvements in institutional deliveries and lower PMRs, particularly within the public sector. Broader strategies must reinforce the role of ASHAs' home visits in reaching the sustainable development goals of improving maternal and newborn health and leaving no one behind.

Indexed as

Community Health WorkersHouse CallsCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansIndiaInfant, NewbornPerinatal MortalityPregnancyepidemiologyinternational health servicesmaternal medicineperinatologypublic health

Identifiers

PMID34253660
PMCPMC8276308

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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.