An evaluation of a perinatal surveillance system in eastern and southeastern Ontario

Abstract

This thesis evaluated the perinatal surveillance system of the Perinatal Partnership Program of Eastern and Southeastern Ontario, using the CDC's guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems, with respect to its content, data collection, data analysis and reports, and its uses. The evaluation consisted of a re-abstraction of a sample of 1542 case-room logbook and charts records, a survey of stakeholders, direct observation, review of files and reports, examination of the data entry screen and linkage to aggregate census data. The system was found to be useful, timely, flexible and representative of hospital births. Its content was more hospital-based than population-based, and its on-line reporting feature was not entirely acceptable to the participating hospitals. Recommendations include marketing the system to potential funding agencies, standardizing the sources of data entered, modifying some of the variables in the entry screen and improving the on-line report generation.