title: Selecting an indicator set for monitoring and evaluating perinatal health in Europe: criteria, methods and results from the PERISTAT project.
abstract: The PERISTAT project was charged with developing an indicator set for monitoring and describing perinatal health in Europe as part of the European Commission's Health Monitoring Programme, run by the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection (DG-SANCO), which is working towards the establishment of a comprehensive health monitoring system at the community level. To develop its recommendations, the PERISTAT project carried out an extensive review of existing perinatal health indicators and then implemented a DELPHI consensus process with its scientific advisory committee, a panel composed of clinicians, epidemiologists and statisticians, as well as with a panel of midwives. Consensus was achieved on 10 core and 23 recommended indicators using methods that drew on and consolidated previous work in this field. Twelve of these indicators were targeted for further development and the other 21 for immediate implementation. A feasibility study, reported in the rest of this issue, was put into place to assess these recommendations.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiological Research Unit on Perinatal and Women's Health, U149 INSERM, 123 boulevard Port-Royal, 75014 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: D032921:Consensus; D004813:Epidemiology; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008880:Midwifery; D018743:Perinatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy