ABSTRACT
To assess whether a measure of prenatal case management (PCM) dosage is more sensitive than a dichotomous PCM exposure measure when evaluating the effect of PCM on low birthweight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB). We constructed a retrospective cohort study (N = 16,657) of Iowa Medicaid-insured women who had a singleton live birth from October 2005 to December 2006; 28 % of women received PCM. A PCM dosage measure was created to capture duration of enrollment, total time with a case manager, and intervention breadth. Propensity score (PS)-adjusted odds ratios (ORs), and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) were calculated to assess the risk of each outcome by PCM dosage and the dichotomous PCM exposure measure. PS-adjusted ORs of PTB were 0.88 (95 % CI 0.70-1.11), 0.58 (95 % CI 0.47-0.72), and 1.43 (95 % CI 1.23-1.67) for high, medium, and low PCM dosage, respectively. For LBW, the PS-adjusted ORs were 0.76 (95 % CI 0.57-1.00), 0.64 (95 % CI 0.50-0.82), and 1.36 (95 % CI 1.14-1.63), for high, medium, and low PCM dosage, respectively. The PCM dichotomous participation measure was not significantly associated with LBW (OR = 0.95, 95 % CI 0.82-1.09) or PTB (0.97, 95 % CI 0.87-1.10). The reference group in each analysis is No PCM. PCM was associated with a reduced risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes for Medicaid-insured women in Iowa. PCM dosage appeared to be a more sensitive measure than the dichotomous measure of PCM participation.
Subject(s)
Case Management/organization & administration , House Calls/statistics & numerical data , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care , Pregnancy Outcome , Prenatal Care/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Adult , Case Management/statistics & numerical data , Confidence Intervals , Female , Humans , Infant, Low Birth Weight , Infant, Newborn , Iowa , Medicaid , Odds Ratio , Pregnancy , Premature Birth , Propensity Score , Retrospective Studies , Risk Factors , Socioeconomic Factors , Time Factors , United States , Young AdultABSTRACT
Recently, federal funding was designated through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act giving states the opportunity to expand their prenatal case management programs (PCM) through home visitation. Studies evaluating the effect of PCM on birth outcomes have shown little or no positive results. One suggested reason for these findings is a lack of attention in the assessment of dosage. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the use of measuring PCM dosage when assessing pregnancy outcomes. A birth cohort (N = 4,582) encompassing Medicaid-insured Iowa residents enrolled in PCM who gave birth to a singleton from October 2005 to December 2006 was constructed from linked Iowa birth, Medicaid Claims, and Women's Health Information Systems datasets. Data was used to create a dosage measure capturing the duration of enrollment, amount of time spent with a case manager, and breadth of interventions. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were used to assess the relationship between PCM dosage and the birth outcomes. Dosage was significantly associated with LBW (X (2) = 31.1, P < 0.001) and PTB (X (2) = 56.2, P < 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders, the likelihood of LBW and PTB were aOR: 0.47 (95% CI: 0.36-0.63) and aOR: 0.60 (95% CI: 0.44-0.82) for women with medium dosage (compared to low dosage), respectively. For women with high PCM dosage the likelihood of LBW and PTB was aOR 0.40 (95% CI: 0.31-0.51) and aOR = 0.62 (95% CI: 0.48-0.81), respectively. This study showed that PCM dosage was significantly associated with lower odds of an adverse pregnancy outcome occurring.
