Preventing Low Birth Weight in Illinois: Outcomes of the Family Case Management Program

Matern Child Health J (2006) 10:481488 DOI 10.1007/s10995-006-0133-8

ORIGINAL PAPER

Preventing Low Birth Weight in Illinois: Outcomes of the Family Case Management Program

Rodrigo Silva Mike Thomas Raul Caetano Corinne Aragaki

Published online: 22 July 2006

C

Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Abstract Objectives: In the mid 1980s the federal government passed legislation allowing states to expand their Medicaid programs for pregnant women. States were also offered matching funds for enhanced prenatal care services. The Illinois Family Case Management (FCM) Program targets low-income women and aims to reduce barriers to prenatal care and infant healthcare utilization and also provides health education. We evaluated the outcome of the Illinois Family Case Management Program (FCM) in preventing low birth

Rodrigo Silva partially funded through a fellowship from CityMatCH, Omaha, Nebraska.

R. Silva The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health,Houston, Texas

R. SilvaU. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

M. Thomas Winnebago County Health Department, Rockford, Illinois

M. Thomas University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago

M. Thomas ([envelopeback])

General Dynamics, 1400 Key Blvd Ste 1200, Arlington, VA 22209 e-mail: [e-mail]

R. Caetano C. Aragaki The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health Dallas Regional Campus,Dallllas, Texas

weight in Winnebago County. Methods: A total of 6,440 participants were included in this study. Logistic regression was used to test whether number of visits or total hours of visitation were signicant protective factors against low birth weight. Results: While participating in the FCM Program resulted in a lower rate of low birth weight delivery, neither increasing time with a family case manager nor increasing number of visits showed statistically signicant additional protection against low birth weight delivery after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Conclusion: In order to further improve program outcomes, efforts need to include improving quality of interventions or developing new interventions rather than simply increasing the amount of current intervention for each participant. The cost effectiveness of shifting FCM Program efforts away from infants (aged 0 1 year) towards improved prenatal interventions should be evaluated.

Keywords Case Management . Illinois/epidemiology . Infant . Low birth weight . Pregnancy Outcome/epidemiology . Prenatal Care/organization & administration

Background

The high number of low birth...