The registry and surveillance system for congenital anomalies in Hormozgan province

Congenital anomalies are one of the leading causes of disabilities and mortality in children worldwide. We aimed to set up a system for scientific registration to reduce perinatal mortality and improve the quality of health services.

As an applied developmental research in 2020, we launched a web-based hospital registration and surveillance system for major congenital anomalies by C# programming language hosted at "mis.hums.ac.ir". Data management was comprised of a) registration of anomalies b) training how to use ICD10 c) imaging specific cases d) assessing the accuracy of the data e) sending information to definite centers. All the live births, fetal deaths and pregnancy termination along with physical examination, reviewing hospital records and parental interviews were recorded. The present system is of two compartments including 43 maternal and 20 neonatal elements.

Initially, the system was set up based on hospital data in two main referral hospitals in Bandar Abbas. Next, all the hospitals in the province, were gradually covered by the system in an active and passive combination. Major congenital anomalies are registered using ICD-10. During the first four months after starting the project, one thousand births were registered and 18 cases of congenital malformations were observed and confirmed.

This study provides the minimum data set required to record congenital anomalies for the first time in southern Iran. This event can be useful in designing electronic patient records. This, itself, will improve perinatal health indicators, particularly, prevention and management of congenital birth defects.