Objective: To evaluate the safety, acceptability and cost of a community-based home-care program for the management of mild pre-eclampsia.
Design: A descriptive study of outcomes between Apr. 1, 1985, and Dec. 31, 1989.
Setting: St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg.
Patients: Urban Winnipeg residents between 27 and 40 weeks' gestation with mild pre-eclampsia who demonstrated acceptance and compliance with home-care management; 321 patients of 1330 were enrolled in the program.
Interventions: Bed rest at home with daily biochemical and biophysical follow-up protocol and weekly clinic visits; patient education; hospital admission for labour, induction, worsening pre-eclampsia or noncompliance with rest at home.
Outcome measures: Patterns of referral to the program; clinical, biochemical and biophysical profiles; incidence of severe complications; reduction in total hospital stay and cost analysis.
Results: As many women were referred from physicians' offices as were referred from the hospital's antepartum unit, the average gestational age at referral being 36 weeks. Most (205 [64%]) of the women were nulliparous. The average length of stay in the program was 11.5 days. The program's availability resulted in a reduction of 2 days (from 5.7 days to 3.7 days) on average in the length of hospital stay when analysed for all 1330 women with pre-eclampsia. Of the 321 patients in the program 137 (43%) were admitted to hospital for worsening pre-eclampsia; severe pre-eclampsia developed 4 days after admission in 9. No patient suffered eclampsia, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, abruption or fetal loss related to pre-eclampsia while in the program. The estimated cost saving in the management of pre-eclampsia was over $700,000 over the study period.
Conclusion: The community-based home-care program is a safe, feasible and less costly alternative to hospital admission in the management of mild pre-eclampsia.