Screening for inter-hospital differences in cesarean section rates in low-risk deliveries using administrative data: An initiative to improve the quality of care

Table 1 Completeness and accuracy of the data (in %): comparison between MCD versus NIS, and between MCD versus SPE

1) Comparison between MCD* and NIS°: number and distribution of live born infants, according to residence
	2002		2004
Residence	MCD	NIS	MCD	NIS
Belgium	(N = 111,609)	(N = 111,225)	(N = 116,142)	(N = 115,618)
Flanders	53.1	53.7	53.0	53.9
Wallonia	33.2	33.8	32.4	32.9
Brussels	13.1	12.5	13.8	13.1
Abroad	0.6	-	0.8	-
2) Comparison between MCD and SPE ⁺ : perinatal characteristics
	2002		2004
Deliveries	MCD	NIS	MCD	NIS
	(N = 58,194)	(N = 58,841)	(N = 59,126)	(N = 61,647)
Multiple gestation
twins	2.3	2.0	2.0	1.6
triplets	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.0
Hypertension	5.5	4.9	5.8	4.8
Diabetes	1.6	1.2	2.1	1.4
Gestational age
20–31 weeks	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.1
32–36 weeks	6.1	6.3	6.4	6.5
>= 37 weeks	92.9	92.7	92.8	92.5
Labor induction	19.4	30.1	17.7	27.6
Epidural anesthesia	48.3	63.2	51.3	61.6
Cesarean delivery	18.1	17.7	18.5	18.3
Previous cesarean	4.6	7.6	5.7	8.2
Births	MCD	NIS	MCD	NIS
	(N = 58,529)	(N = 60,048)	(N = 59,110)	(N = 62,657)
Presentation
breech	4.5	5.4	4.5	5.2
transverse	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.5
Type of birth
spontaneous	72.5	69.9	71.3	70.2
vacuum	8.5	10.3	9.1	9.7
forceps	0.6	1.1	0.5	0.9
cesarean	17.9	18.3	18.2	18.9
vaginal breech	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3
Weight at birth
<1500 g	0.8	1.2	0.8	1.1
1500–2499 g	5.6	6.2	5.4	5.8
>= 2500 g	93.3	92.7	93.7	93.1
Gender
male	51.4	51.4	51.4	51.4
female	48.6	48.6	48.6	48.6
Congenital anomalies	3.0	1.8	3.1	1.6
Admission into specialized unit	17.9	17.9	17.9	17.8

ISSN: 1472-6963