Using Linked PRAMS DATA to Evaluate Outcomes of a Rural Healthy Start Program

Background

The Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality recognized the value of linked data sets to evaluate maternal child health programs and encouraged collaboration from local, state, and national programs.  For example, Enterprise Community Healthy Start (ECHS) project data were linked with Georgia vital records and with CDC’s PRAMS data to further evaluate the impact of the program.

Methods

Community-based approaches to increasing response rates to PRAMS surveys by women in the ECHS service counties included targeted distribution of posters and flyers. Researchers provided identified ECHS data necessary to link the data sets and verify accuracy of the linkages. Continuous collaboration was necessary to meet HIPAA and IRB requirements and plan the protocols for ECHS program evaluation using the linked data.

Results

Data revealed PRAMS oversampling of the rural ECHS service counties resulted in 196 ECHS-served women completed the survey.  ECHS sample size accounted for approximately one-third of the total PRAMS sample in 2010 and one-fourth in 2011.  

The study design for the local program evaluation using the linked perinatal data will be a secondary analysis of linked PRAMS data conducted among singleton births to assess differences between ECHS clients and: 

1. non-ECHS women residing in the same project area counties;

2. non-ECHS women residing outside of the project area but in similar Georgia counties; and

3. non-ECHS women residing in non-HS Georgia counties.

Conclusions

Linked data files are a rich source for evaluation of service projects.  They provide an opportunity for external comparison groups.