Global core indicators for measuring WHO’s paediatric quality‑of‑care standards in health facilities: Development and expert consensus

Abstract

There are currently no global recommendations on a parsimonious and robust set of indicators that can be measured routinely or periodically to monitor quality of hospital care for children and young adolescents. We describe a systematic methodology used to prioritize and define a core set of such indicators and their metadata for progress tracking, accountability, learning and improvement, at facility, (sub) national, national, and global levels. We used a deductive methodology which involved the use of the World Health Organization Standards for improving the quality-of-care for children and young adolescents in health facilities as the organizing framework for indicator development. The entire process involved 9 complementary steps which included: a rapid literature review of available evidence, the application of a peer-reviewed systematic algorithm for indicator systematization and prioritization, and multiple iterative expert consultations to establish consensus on the proposed indicators and their metadata.

Description

Keywords

Child health, Young adolescent, World Health Organization (WHO), Public health, Maternal health

Citation

Muzigaba, M. et al. (2022). Global core indicators for measuring WHO’s paediatric quality‑of‑care standards in health facilities: Development and expert consensus. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), 887. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08234-5