Risk factors of stillbirths: a teaching case-study
Abdulwahed Al Serouri, Maha Obadi, Mohammad Al Amad, Ratiba Taher, Mohammed Qayad, Yousef Khader
Corresponding author: Abdulwahed Al Serouri, Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program, Sana´a, Yemen 
Received: 02 Jul 2020 - Accepted: 20 Jul 2020 - Published: 03 Aug 2020
Domain: Obstetrics and gynecology
Keywords: Stillbirth, risk factors, case-control study, Yemen, Field Epidemiology Training Program
This article is published as part of the supplement Teaching case-studies in Field Epidemiology with a focus on the Eastern Mediterranean Region, commissioned by The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET).
©Abdulwahed Al Serouri et al. Pan African Medical Journal (ISSN: 1937-8688). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Abdulwahed Al Serouri et al. Risk factors of stillbirths: a teaching case-study. Pan African Medical Journal. 2020;36(1):4. [doi: 10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.36.1.24748]
Available online at: https://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/series/36/1/4/full
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Risk factors of stillbirths: a teaching case-study
Risk factors of stillbirths: a teaching case-study
Abdulwahed Al Serouri1,&, Maha Obadi1, Mohammad Al Amad1, Ratiba Taher2, Mohammed Qayad1, Yousef Khader3
&Corresponding author
Stillbirth has been referred to as the ‘silent epidemic’ with more than 7,178 deaths a day. The stillbirth rate in developing countries is approximately 10 times that of developed countries (29 vs. 3 per 1000 births). The United Nations´ Every Newborn Action Plan has set a goal of 12 stillbirths per 1000 births by 2030 for all countries. Although, the causes of stillbirth are complex as there are many contributing and interacting factors, the majority of stillbirths are preventable. The stillbirth rate in Yemen is 29 per 1000 live birth which is the highest among the Arabic countries. Despite such high stillbirth rate, there is scarcity of data from Yemen on stillbirth and its risk factors. This case study is designed as hand-on tool for training advanced field epidemiology residents and public health trainees to consolidate their knowledge and improve their public health practices to design, conduct, analyse, interpret and report findings from a case-control study. The case study can be administered in 3-4 hours. Used as adjunct training material, the case study provides the trainees with competencies in designing and analysing data to make evidence-based recommendations to help decisions making on tackling similar public health problems.
General instructions: this case study should be used as adjunct training material for advance field epidemiology residents and public health trainees to reinforce the concepts taught in prior lectures on designing and analyzing epidemiological studies. The case study is ideally taught for 2-3 groups of 5-7 participants per group that is guided by one facilitator. Participants are to take turns reading the case study, usually a paragraph per trainee. The facilitator guides the discussion on possible responses to questions. The facilitator may make use of flip charts to illustrate certain points. Additional instructor´s notes for facilitation are coupled with each question in the facilitator´s guide to aid facilitation.
Audience: this case study was developed for advance field epidemiology residents and public health trainees. These trainees are commonly health care workers with epidemiology or public health background working in the county departments of health.
Prerequisites: before using this case study, participants should have received lectures on study design and appropriate analysis for each design.
Materials needed: Flash drive, flip charts, markers, computers with MS Excel and Epi Info or other statistical software e.g. SPSS
Level of training and associated public health activity: Advance - Field investigation
Time required: 3 - 4 hours
Language: English
- Download the case study student guide
- Request the case study facilitator guide
The authors declare no competing interests.
Author would like to thank the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) for their technical support.
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- Al-Shahethi AH et al. Maternal, prenatal and traditional practice factors associated with perinatal mortality in Yemen, Women Birth. 2019 Apr;32(2):e204-e215. Google Scholar
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