(854) Do Patient Characteristics Influence Cervical Length Screening?

To evaluate if unconscious bias influenced cervical length (CL) screening within a single health system.

Study Design:

This was a retrospective cohort study of ultrasound (US) performed in high risk units (HRU) within a multi-site health system. US were performed during 2023 in singleton gestations between 16w0d-24w0d. 

Results:

5150 cases met inclusion criteria. For pregnant patients with multiple studies, only the first study was used. Cases with missing data or cases performed in a non-HRU were excluded leaving 1294 cases. Earlier gestational age was less likely to have CL screening performed (19.4 weeks [range 16.7-22.1] vs 20.0 weeks [range 18.4-20.9], p-value 0.02). Though there was a trend to variation in maternal age and Medicaid coverage, these differences were not significant. Women with "other" for race were less likely to undergo CL screening when compared to white women (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.26-0.95; p 0.029). BMI, African American and Hispanic race, median income, and preferred language were not found to influence CL performance.

Conclusion:

These data did not demonstrate significant impact of unconscious bias in CL screening within a HRU. Further investigation as to why patients of “other” race/ethnicity did not have CL screening performed is recommended to confirm consistent and equitable quality of care.