title: PERISTAT: indicators for monitoring and evaluating perinatal health in Europe.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The PERISTAT project aimed to develop an indicator set for monitoring and describing perinatal health in Europe. The challenge was to define indicators that cover common concerns and have the same meaning within the different European health care systems.
  
  
  METHODS
  PERISTAT included i) a review of existing recommendations on perinatal health indicators, ii) a DELPHI consensus process with a scientific advisory committee composed of a clinician and an epidemiologist or statistician from each European member state as well as with a panel of midwives, and iii) a study of the availability of national statistics to construct recommended indicators. This article describes the first two components.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The review identified 10 international and 13 national recommended indicator sets. It also included indicators routinely compiled by WHO, EUROSTAT and OECD. Because of the methodological limits to using existing indicators for European comparisons, a high priority was placed on improving indicators already collected. Using the DELPHI method based on the results of the review, the scientific committee achieved a consensus on ten core and 23 recommended indicators, including 12 requiring further development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PERISTAT project was successful in identifying a set of indicators, which drew on and consolidated previous work. Consensus was not achieved on precise indicators in areas where uncertainty about appropriate indicators was high, although areas were targeted for future development. Finally, the feasibility study, which is in progress, is an essential part of the project, since it will enable member states to evaluate their capacity to produce these indicators.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiological Research Unit on Perinatal and Women's Health, U149 INSERM, Paris, France. Zeitlin@cochin.inserm.fr
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeitlin
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wildman
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bréart
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Henrique
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blondel
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buitendijk
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gissler
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Macfarlane
mesh_terms: D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D032921:Consensus; D003697:Delphi Technique; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007229:Infant Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007391:International Cooperation; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000592:standards; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000592:standards; D040442:Public Health Informatics; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care