Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34493503›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Delay in the induction of labour process: a retrospective cohort study and computer simulation of maternity unit workload.

Katherine Robertson, Ian Hardingham, Rhiannon D'Arcy, Aparna Reddy, Joe Clacey

Open access · goldAbstract 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, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 23% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Katherine RobertsonDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK katherine.robertson@ouh.nhs.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-4414-5186
Ian HardinghamOxford Brain Diagnostics, Oxford, UK.
Rhiannon D'ArcyDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Aylesbury, UK.
Aparna ReddyDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Aylesbury, UK.
Joe ClaceyDepartment of Child Psychiatry, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust · GBOxford Health NHS Foundation Trust · GBOxford Medical Diagnostics (United Kingdom) · GBOxford University Hospitals NHS Trust · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesDelay in the induction of labour (IOL) process is associated with poor patient experience and adverse perinatal outcome. Our objective was to identify factors associated with delay in the IOL process and develop interventions to reduce delay. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of maternity unit workload in a large UK district general hospital. Electronic hospital records were used to quantify delay in the IOL process and linear regression analysis was performed to assess significant associations between delay and potential causative factors. A novel computer maternity unit simulation model, MUMSIM (Maternity Unit Management SIMulation), was developed using real-world data and interventions were tested to identify those associated with a reduction in delay.

participantsAll women giving birth at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire National Health Service (NHS) Trust in 2018 (n=4932). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Delay in the IOL process of more than 12 hours.

resultsThe retrospective analysis of real-world maternity unit workload showed 30% of women had IOL and of these, 33% were delayed >12 hours with 20% delayed >24 hours, 10% delayed >48 hours and 1.3% delayed >72 hours. Delay was significantly associated with the total number of labouring women (p=0.008) and the number of booked IOL (p=0.009) but not emergency IOL, spontaneously labouring women or staffing shortfall. The MUMSIM computer simulation predicted that changing from slow release 24-hour prostaglandin to 6-hour prostaglandin for primiparous women would reduce delay by 4% (p<0.0001) and that additional staffing interventions could significantly reduce delay up to 17.9% (p<0.0001).

conclusionsPlanned obstetric workload of booked IOL is associated with delay rather than the unpredictable workload of women in spontaneous labour or emergency IOL. We present a novel maternity unit computer simulation model, MUMSIM, which allows prediction of the impact of interventions to reduce delay.

Indexed as

State MedicineWorkloadComputer SimulationFemaleHumansLabor, InducedPregnancyRetrospective Studieshealth informaticsinformation technologyobstetrics

Identifiers

PMID34493503
PMCPMC8424876
OpenAlexW3197056079

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.