Quality of care in births and deliveries: towards a comprehensive approach

• Grant number: 00/07737-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2001
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2001
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Daphne Rattner
• Grantee: Daphne Rattner
• Supervisor: Irva Hertz-Picciotto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde (IS). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), United States

Abstract

This study proposes to elaborate and evaluate a comprehensive system to assess quality of care for obstetric deliveries, using hospitals as unit of analysis. Its overall goal is to identify Quality of Care indicators that are easy to measure, that would be cost-effective to be used on a continuing basis. Those include the traditional triad proposed by Donabedian (structure / process / outcome of care) and associated hospital and socio-environmental variables. The project adopts the public Health perspective as guidance for the evaluation of health care, and defines a comprehensive theoretical framework. The study design is a cross-sectional investigation of hospitals of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and involves both primary and secondary data of the period between January 1st, 1994 and December 31st, 1995. (AU)