title: Moving toward evidence-based federal Healthy Start program evaluations: accounting for bias in birth outcomes studies.
abstract: We used administrative and screening data from 2009 to 2010 to determine if Healthy Start (HS), an enhanced prenatal services program, is reaching the most vulnerable African American women in Kent County, Michigan. Women in HS are at higher risk of key predictors of birth outcomes compared with other women. To advance toward evidence-based HS program evaluations in the absence of randomized controlled trials, future studies using comparison groups need to appropriately establish baseline equivalence on a variety of risk factors related to birth outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Cristian I. Meghea, Jennifer E. Raffo, and Lee Anne Roman are with the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing. Cristian I. Meghea is also with the Institute for Health Policy, Michigan State University. Peggy VanderMeulen is with Strong Beginnings Federal Healthy Start Program, Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI.
authors.forename: Cristian I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Meghea
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Raffo
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: VanderMeulen
authors.forename: Lee Anne
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Roman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015982:Bias; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult