Development and Validation of an Algorithm to Determine Spontaneous versus Provider-Initiated Preterm Birth in US Vital Records

• Published in: Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology 2016-03, Vol.30 (2), p.134-140
• Main Authors: Klebanoff, Mark A., Yossef-Salameh, Lina, Latimer, Cheryl, Oza-Frank, Reena, Kachoria, Rashmi, Reagan, Patricia B., Oliver, Emily A., Buhimschi, Catalin S., Buhimschi, Irina A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Birth weight; Female; Fetal Membranes, Premature Rupture - epidemiology; Humans; indicated preterm birth; Labor, Induced - statistics & numerical data; Ohio - epidemiology; Pregnancy; Premature birth; Premature Birth - epidemiology; preterm birth; spontaneous preterm birth; United States cital records; validation
• ISSN: 0269-5022; 1365-3016
• DOI: 10.1111/ppe.12267

Background Determining whether initiation of preterm birth was spontaneous, or through labour induction or caesarean without labour or membrane rupture is critical in surveillance and aetiological research on preterm birth, although this information is not explicitly included on the US Birth Certificate. Algorithms combining several fields from birth certificates have been developed to infer the initiating event, but none has been validated against manual review of original obstetric records. Our objective was to develop a birth certificate‐based algorithm to determine initiation of preterm birth and validate it by manual review of original records. Methods We developed an algorithm from the 2003 US Standard Birth Certificate to determine spontaneous vs. indicated preterm birth. The algorithm was first tested on obstetrical records from 80 preterm (