Article
Intraclass correlation coefficients in the brazilian network for surveillance of severe maternal morbidity study
Registro en:
HADDAD, Samira M. et al. Intraclass correlation coefficients in the brazilian network for surveillance of severe maternal morbidity study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. v. 12, 2012
1471-2393
Autor
Haddad, Samira M
Sousa, Maria H
Cecatti, Jose G
Parpinelli, Mary A
Costa, Maria L
Souza, Joao P
Resumen
Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of variables
concerning personal characteristics, structure, outcome and process in the Brazilian Network for Surveillance of
Severe Maternal Morbidity study conducted to identify severe maternal morbidity/near miss cases using the World
Health Organization criteria.
Method: It was a cross-sectional, multicenter study involving 27 hospitals providing care for pregnant women in
Brazil. Cluster size and the mean size of the primary sampling unit were described. Estimated prevalence rates, ICC,
their respective 95% confidence intervals, the design effect and the mean cluster size were presented for each
variable.
Results: Overall, 9,555 cases of severe maternal morbidity (woman admitted with potentially life-threatening
conditions, near miss events or death) were included in the study. ICC ranged from < 0.001 to 0.508, with a median
of 0.035. ICC was < 0.1 for approximately 75% of the variables. For process-related variables, median ICC was 0.09,
with 0.021 for those related to outcome. These findings confirm data from previous studies. Homogeneity may be
considered minor, thus increasing reliability of these findings.
Conclusions: These results may be used to design new cluster trials in maternal and perinatal health and to help
calculate sample sizes.