Minimum Data Sets of Perinatal Period for Iran: A Delphi Study

A Minimum Data Set (MDS) is a core set of data elements agreed by the National Health Information Management Group in Australia for mandatory collection and reporting of data at a national level. It has important role in the health care industry for data exchange and implementation of electronic health records. The aim of this study was to design of perinatal MDS for Iran. This was an applied and mixed method study (qualitative - comparative and Delphi) conducted in 2013. For the first step, perinatal MDS in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, America, England and Iran were studied and compared via library sources, the Internet, correspondance with foreign authors, and available forms. The instrument of the study were data collection forms and a questionnaire that content validity of which was determined by the experts of the field. Then, the initial model for MDS of perinatal period was suggested. The questionnaire was tested by Delphi technique in two rounds. Data analyses was performed by comparing tables and determining similarities and differences in the selective countries at the stage of comparison of MDS of perinatal period. At the stage of data validation for the model, this was accomplished with descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean) and Excel software. In the initial model for MDS of perinatal period, from 251 data elements and 11 sections were subjected to discussion. Finaly, 105 data elements with consensus and 122 with collective agreement were confirmed. Data elements were proposed in 15 subsets. Present problems has faced in country such as poor documentation, lack of data elements of standard. MDS improve the quality of perinatal care and access to accurate and timely data.