Implementation of maternal guidelines for gravid teenagers with hypertensive disorders in KwaZulu-Natal.
Zwelihle B Shongwe
PMID 36744473WHAT IT FOUND
In 173 records of teenagers with hypertensive disorders, oedema was not assessed in 170 during labour and 172 after delivery, and postpartum urinalysis was done in 1.
Key findings
01Oedema was not assessed in 170 of 173 teenagers during labour and in 172 of 173 after delivery.
02After delivery, urinalysis was not carried out in 172 teenagers and was done in 1.
03Antihypertensives were given to 22 teenagers during labour and 17 teenagers after delivery.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used maternal records from seven public health institutions in a rural district, so results were generalised only to those settings. It was a nonexperimental retrospective design, so it describes documented care rather than testing whether guideline implementation improved outcomes. Data were extracted by a researcher in the absence of obstetric practitioners. The researcher developed the structured checklist. The structured checklist had Cronbach alpha 0.711, but the study did not compare teenagers whose care followed the guidelines with teenagers whose care did not.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the missing assessments caused the maternal or neonatal complications reported. This retrospective record review describes what was documented in seven public health institutions and does not compare outcomes between teenagers who received guideline assessments and those who did not.