Purpose: The considerable volume of infections from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has made it challenging for health departments to collect complete data for national disease reporting. We sought to examine sensitivity of the COVID-19 case report form (CRF) pregnancy field by comparing CRF data to the gold standard of CRF data linked to birth and fetal death certificates.
Description: CRFs for women aged 15-44 years with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were linked to birth and fetal death certificates for pregnancies completed during January 1-December 31, 2020 in Illinois and Tennessee. Among linked records, pregnancy was considered confirmed for women with a SARS-CoV-2 specimen collection date on or prior to the delivery date. Sensitivity of the COVID-19 CRF pregnancy field was calculated by dividing the number of confirmed pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection with pregnancy indicated on the CRF by the number of confirmed pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Assessment: Among 4276 (Illinois) and 2070 (Tennessee) CRFs that linked with a birth or fetal death certificate, CRF pregnancy field sensitivity was 45.3% and 42.1%, respectively. In both states, sensitivity varied significantly by maternal race/ethnicity, insurance, trimester of prenatal care entry, month of specimen collection, and trimester of specimen collection. Sensitivity also varied by maternal education in Illinois but not in Tennessee.
Conclusion: Sensitivity of the COVID-19 CRF pregnancy field varied by state and demographic factors. To more accurately assess outcomes for pregnant women, jurisdictions might consider utilizing additional data sources and linkages to obtain pregnancy status.
Keywords: COVID-19; Pregnancy; SARS-CoV-2 infection; Surveillance; Validation.
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