The Iranian Integrated Maternal Health Care Guideline Based on Evidence-Based Medicine and American Guidelines: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: There is a little consistency among prenatal care guidelines. An evidence-based guideline can be used to improve the quality of the mother and child health care. This study was designed to compare the consistency of the Iranian integrated maternal health care guideline with evidence-based prenatal care manuals and American guidelines. Methods: In this comparative study, the Iranian guideline recommendations were compared with the content of American prenatal care according to obstetrics and gynecology recommendations of the U.S. preventive services task force and evidence-based prenatal care. The strength of the recommendations was assessed based on evidence-based medicine. Results: In this study, 71 recommendations were compared in four parts. About 18.3 percent of the recommendations were consistent with all guidelines. Screening for group B streptococcus, performing chorionic villous sampling and amniocentesis for at risk women, and anomaly screening were not mentioned in the Iranian guideline. The Iranian guideline was consistent with the content of U.S. preventive services task force in 38% of the recommendations, American Obstetricians and Gynecologists expert panel guidelines in 75.6% of the recommendations, and with evidence-based care in 66.2% of the recommendations. Conclusions: Although there was a little consistency among guidelines, the Iranian guideline had a good consistency with the American guidelines and evidence-based care recommendations. Updating clinical tests and the prenatal screening part of the Iranian guideline based on the results of this study may increase the effectiveness of the prenatal care and ultimately improve the mother and child’s health.