Cross-sectional study of the quality of neonatal care services in Armenia
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 14 October 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the assessment results of the quality of neonatal care services in Armenia and to describe the identified obstacles to improving the quality of care for newborn infants.
Design/methodology/approach
The study carried out a cross-sectional descriptive design. The data were collected in health facilities with different levels of neonatal care that were selected employing a multi-stage, stratified purposeful sampling design. The quality of neonatal services was assessed using the generic WHO tool. Data collection was performed using face-to-face semi-structured interviews, hospital statistics, medical records and direct observations.
Findings
In 31 study hospitals, 31,976 deliveries were performed resulting in 31,701 live births and 734 stillbirths. About 85 percent of all neonatal deaths was attributable to early neonatal deaths with over 48 percent occurring during the first 24 h of life. The proportion of neonatal deaths was highest in infants with low birth weight constituting 92.8 percent of all neonatal deaths. The total neonatal mortality rate was 3.50 per 1,000 live births, whereas stillbirth rate and perinatal mortality rate were 22.60 and 25.26 per 1,000 total births in 2015. Specific indicators with relatively lower mean scores included neonatal resuscitation, early breastfeeding, monitoring of newborn conditions, neonatal sepsis, feeding standards, total parenteral nutrition, and infection treatment.
Originality/value
Given the limited scope of research on quality assessment, this paper provides valuable information on the status of quality of neonatal care services in Armenian health facilities. This work also extends the existing studies focused on quality assessment through applying the model of Avedis Donabedian with the structure–process–outcomes approach as a theoretical basis.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under “Improving the Quality of Neonatal Care Services in Armenia” project (cooperative agreement number AID-III-A-16-00001), implemented by the Armenian Association of Neonatal Medicine. The content is the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the US Government. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.
Citation
Galstyan, S.H., Kalenteryan, H.Z., Djerdjerian, A.S., Ghazaryan, H.S., Gharakhanyan, N.T. and Kalenteryan, V.Y. (2019), "Cross-sectional study of the quality of neonatal care services in Armenia", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 1145-1161. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-01-2019-0012
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited