Assessment of Variation in Cesarean Delivery Rates Between Public and Private Health Facilities in India From 2005 to 2016.

Bhatia, Mrigesh; Banerjee, Kajori; Dixit, Priyanka; Dwivedi, Laxmi Kant

Key Points: Question: Are private vs public sector health care facilities associated with increases in cesarean delivery rates among pregnant women in India over time, and what is the avoidable burden of cesarean deliveries in private sector facilities? Findings: In this cross-sectional study of 217 976 births at public and private sector institutions in India between 2005 and 2016, the likelihood of having a cesarean delivery in a private facility more than doubled over the period examined. A reduction in the percentage of cesarean deliveries in the private sector to the World Health Organization's recommended threshold of 15% was associated with a potential cost savings of approximately $321 million. Meaning: The study's findings indicated that private sector facilities were associated with increases in the rate of cesarean deliveries; it is important that policy makers address the increasing number of avoidable cesarean deliveries in India. Importance: The rates of cesarean deliveries have more than doubled in India, from 8% of deliveries in 2005 to 17% of deliveries in 2016. The World Health Organization recommends that cesarean deliveries should not exceed 10% to 15% of all deliveries in any country. An understanding of the association of private and public facilities with the increase in cesarean delivery rates in India is needed. Objective: To assess the association of public vs private sector health care facilities with cesarean delivery rates in India and to estimate the potential cost savings if private sector facilities followed World Health Organization recommendation for cesarean deliveries. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used institutional delivery data from the representative National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in India, including data from the NFHS-1 (1992-1993), the NFHS-3 (2005-2006), and the NFHS-4 (2015-2016). The NFHS-3 and NFHS-4 provided data on 22 647 deliveries and 195 366 deliveries, respectively. The NHFS-4 was the first survey to provide data on out-of-pocket expenditures for delivery by facility type, allowing for a comparison of cesarean deliveries and costs between public and private facilities. The primary sample comprised all pregnant women who delivered infants in public and private institutional facilities in India and who were included the NFHS-3 and the NFHS-4; data on pregnant women who were included in the NFHS-1 were used for comparison. The study's findings were analyzed through geographic mapping, data tabulation, funnel plots, multivariate logistic regression analyses, and potential cost-savings scenario analyses. Data were analyzed from June to December 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was the rate of cesarean deliveries by facility type (public vs private) and by participant socioeconomic, demographic, and health characteristics. Secondary outcomes were the potential number of avoidable cesarean deliveries and the potential cost savings if private sector facilities followed the World Health Organization recommendations for cesarean deliveries. Results: In the NFHS-3, 22 610 total births occurred at institutional facilities. Of those, 2178 births (15.2%) were cesarean deliveries in public facilities, and 3200 births (27.9%) were cesarean deliveries in private facilities. Of 195 366 total institutional births in the NFHS-4, 15 165 births (11.9%) were cesarean deliveries in public facilities, and 20 506 births (40.9%) were cesarean deliveries in private facilities. The cesarean delivery rate in public health facilities increased from 7.2% in the NFHS-1 to 11.9% in the NFHS-4, whereas in private health facilities, the rate increased from 12.3% to 40.9% during the same period. A substantial increase was found in cesarean delivery rates between the NFHS-3 (2005-2006) and the NFHS-4 (2015-2016), with 22 states exceeding the World Health Organization's upper threshold of 15% in the NFHS-4. The odds ratio for cesarean deliveries in private facilities compared with public facilities increased from 1.62 (95% CI, 1.49-1.76) in the NFHS-3 to 4.17 (95% CI, 4.04-4.30) in the NFHS-4. The number of avoidable cesarean deliveries would have been 1.83 million, with a potential cost savings of $320.60 million, if private sector facilities in India had followed the 15% threshold for cesarean delivery rates recommended by the World Health Organization. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, private sector health facilities were associated with a substantial increase in cesarean deliveries in India. Further research is needed to assess the factors underlying the increase in cesarean deliveries in private sector facilities. This cross-sectional study uses data from the National Family Health Survey to assess the association of public vs private sector health facilities with the increase in cesarean delivery rates and to estimate the avoidable burden of cesarean deliveries in India between 2005 and 2016.

INDIA; AGE distribution; CESAREAN section; COMPARATIVE studies; CONFIDENCE intervals; COST control; HEALTH services administration; PROPRIETARY hospitals; PREGNANCY complications; PREGNANT women; PUBLIC hospitals; STATISTICS; UNNECESSARY surgery; WORLD Health Organization; REGULATORY approval; MULTIPLE regression analysis; SOCIOECONOMIC factors; CROSS-sectional method; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; ODDS ratio

JAMA Network Open, 2020, Vol 3, Issue 8, pe2015022

2574-3805

Academic Journal

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.15022