Data use for research: use of eReg to implement a health care intervention in Uganda.

Title: Data use for research: use of eReg to implement a health care intervention in Uganda.

Eleni Papadopoulou, researcher, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

Summary: The eRegistries are the systematic, longitudinal documentation of individual-level data, digitized at the point of care, and used for evidence-based and synergistic DHIs to serve all users and clients. Due to their key characteristics they serve as a tool/platform to implement and support digital and non-digital health interventions. eRegistries can deliver a comprehensive implementation research assessments of interventions integrated in health records at point-of-care.

Within a new research project, we aim to combine health systems innovation, implementation and intervention research in support of universal effective coverage of antenatal care (ANC) health services for pregnant women in Uganda. Among our goals, we will respond to WHO’s priority question for ANC by undertaking a cRCT of the current ANC4 schedule vs. the new ANC8, to estimate the impact on quality of care, health, values, acceptability, resources, feasibility and equity parameters.

The district of Mukono, Uganda, has a population of 650,000 with 30,000 births per year, served by 62 health facilities. No government health centers in Mukono have digital health records, but all have internet connectivity and report their aggregate data to the national DHIS2 system. Pregnancies have a very high coverage of registration/booking visits with at least one ANC contact (97%), but similar to the average of sub-Saharan countries, only 60% attend ANC four times or more (ANC4+). There is no routine data on the effective coverage of screening and management of key pregnancy complications. Perinatal mortality is 4.7%, i.e. every year 1400 babies in Mukono die after 28 weeks of pregnancy or during the first week of life. The maternal mortality ratio is 438/100,000, i.e. every year, 130 mothers die in Mukono during pregnancy and childbirth, or within 42 days after delivery.

1 Like