title: Building a research registry for studying birth complications and outcomes in six Palestinian governmental hospitals.
abstract: Electronic-health (e-health) provides opportunities for quality improvement of healthcare, but implementation in low and middle income countries is still limited. Our aim was to describe the implementation of a registration (case record form; CRF) for obstetric interventions and childbirth events using e-health in a prospective birth cohort study in Palestine. We also report the completeness and the reliability of the data.
  
  
  
  Data on maternal and fetal health was collected prospectively for all women admitted to give birth during the period from 1st March 2015 to 31st December 2015 in three governmental hospitals in Gaza and three in the West Bank. Essential indicators were noted in a case registration form (CRF) and subsequently entered into the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS 2) system. Completeness of registered cases was checked against the monthly hospital birth registries. Reliability (correct information) of DHIS2 registration and entry were checked for 22 selected variables, collected during the first 10 months. In the West Bank, a comparison between our data registration and entry and data obtained from the Ministry of Health patient electronic records was conducted in the three hospitals.
  
  
  
  According to the hospital birth registries, a total of 34,482 births occurred in the six hospitals during the study period. Data on the mothers and children registered on CRF was almost complete in two hospitals (100% and 99.9%); in the other hospitals the completeness ranged from 72.1% to 98.7%. Eighty birth events were audited for 22 variables in the three hospitals in the West Bank. Out of 1760 registrations in each hospital, the rates of correct data registration ranged from 81% to 93.2% and data entry ranged from 84.5% to 93.1%.
  
  
  
  The registered and entered data on birth events in six hospitals was almost complete in five out of six hospitals. The collected data is considered reliable for research purposes.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Pharmacy and Health Professions and Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, Ramallah, State of Palestine. saharjhassan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6887-9993
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ase
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vikanes
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Katariina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laine
authors.affiliation: The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Al Aqsa Hospital, Gaza, State of Palestine.
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zimmo
authors.affiliation: The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shifa Hospitals, Gaza, State of Palestine.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zimmo
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Espen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bjertness
authors.affiliation: The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fosse
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008877:Middle East / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Birth registries; Case registration form; Childbirth; Completeness; District Health Information Software; Government hospitals; Palestine; Reliability; e-health