 |
Arizona Birth Defects Tracking Program Program Title:
Arizona Birth Defects Monitoring Program
Organization: Arizona Department of Health Services
Project Period: September 2003–June 2008
Project Director: Timothy J. Flood, MD
Grant Title: Population-Based Birth Defects Surveillance
Programs and the Utilization of Surveillance Data by Public Health
Programs
Project Summary
The Arizona Birth Defects Monitoring Program
(ABDMP) is a population-based registry of children born with major
birth defects throughout Arizona. The program tracks trends in the
number of birth defects that occur, identifies groups at high risk
for certain defects, works on prevention activities, and helps refer
children for follow-up services.
Project Goals and Activities
Surveillance
- For children with neural tube defects (NTDs)
and oral clefts, reduce the time between birth and being listed
in the registry from 12–15 months to 3–6 months. For children
with all other birth defects, reduce that time from 2–3 years to
6–18 months.
- Expand birth defects and prenatal surveillance statewide and
create a more efficient computer system to automatically request
medical records for children.
- Tell all hospitals in the state about new electronic
reporting requirements. Help hospitals carry out the new
reporting, starting with those that send the highest percentage
of cases to the ABDMP.
Prevention
- Work with state and community groups to
promote use of folic acid before pregnancy and to reduce
high-risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol use, during
pregnancy.
- Share data within Arizona to promote and
evaluate prevention activities and birth defects research.
Referrals
- Refer all children in the registry to the
Arizona Early Intervention Program—about 1,500 children a year.
- Develop a tool to find out which services
children with NTDs and clefts are referred to and enrolled in.
- Follow-up by phone with parents of children
in the registry to asses their health status.
Date:
March 11, 2009
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
|
|
|
