Association Between Maternal and Child Health Handbook and Quality of Antenatal Care Services in Palestine.
Objectives The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) handbook is an integrated home-based record allowing clients to keep records on the continuum of care for mothers and children. This study aimed to assess associations between MCH handbook ownership and receipt of selected content of antenatal care services in Palestine. Methods Distribution of the MCH handbook in Palestine was launched in 2008. We used an anonymous data set of the Palestinian Family Survey 2010 and analyzed the data of 2026 women who had live births within the past 12 months. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted to assess differences between MCH handbook holders and non-holders. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios of the effects of MCH handbook use according to proxy indicators of antenatal care quality. Results Accounting for about 60% (n = 1202) of study participants, handbook holders were more likely to be primipara, live in the Gaza Strip, live in refugee camps, and live within a 30-min distance to antenatal care facilities; however, household wealth levels for handbook holders were lower compared with non-holders. Handbook users had significantly higher odds of receiving all three kinds of medical tests and receiving information on five or more health education topics as part of antenatal care. The higher odds remained after adjusting for possible confounding variables, such as household wealth, region, residential area, birth order of the child, frequency of antenatal care, and time required to reach antenatal care facilities. Conclusions for Practice Use of the handbook as a portable checklist possibly promoted providers' higher adherence to the national guideline.
['Kitabayashi|Harumi|H|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4599-3232', 'Chiang|Chifa|C|', 'Al-Shoaibi|Abubakr Ahmed Abdullah|AAA|', 'Hirakawa|Yoshihisa|Y|', 'Aoyama|Atsuko|A|']
D000328:Adult D018912:Arabs D002648:Child D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D006266:Health Education D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice D006801:Humans D016015:Logistic Models D008427:Maternal Health Services D015999:Multivariate Analysis D011247:Pregnancy D011295:Prenatal Care D011787:Quality of Health Care D055815:Young Adult
Antenatal care Palestine Maternal and Child Health (MCH) handbook Checklist Quality of care