Abstract:
Objective To analyze the status of and differences in the accuracy of the information on recognized maternal health needs in Beijing and Shanghai and to explore the significance of the accuracy and the feasibility of quantitative evaluation on the accuracy.
Methods We collected all information on sensitive indicators of health needs among women in Beijing and Shanghai published by research, healthcare and governmental institutions. Descriptive methods were used to analyze and compare variations in the accuracy of the information on recognized maternal health needs in the two cities. Spearman correlation and univariate regression analysis were used to assess the relationship between the accuracy of the information and maternal mortality.
Results Based on comprehensive assessment on the five aspects (authority, timeliness, continuity, completeness, and credibility) of the information collected, the accuracy rate of the information on recognized health needs for the women in Shanghai increased from 22.8% in 2000 to 34.6% in 2017 and the accuracy rate of the information for the women in Beijing increased from 14.5% to 25.8%. There was an inverse correlation between the information's accuracy and maternal mortality, with a regression coefficient of – 0.761; but the correlation was observed only in Shanghai.
Conclusion The effect of accurate information about recognized health care needs on health outcome is slightly higher among the women in Shanghai than among those in Beijing, but for the establishment of an appropriate maternal health care system, the continuity and completeness of the information are insufficient in both the two cities. The results of the study show that the method for quantitative evaluation on the accuracy of the information on recognized maternal health needs is feasible and could be applied in other researches.