# Comparative Effectiveness of Interventions for Labor Induction

> **NIH AHRQ K01** · WOMEN AND INFANTS HOSPITAL-RHODE ISLAND · 2020 · $113,926

## Abstract

Project Summary/ Abstract
Despite nearly one million births involving labor induction annually in the United States, substantial variability in
the protocols and interventions used for induction exists among providers. Induced labors are longer and
require more hospital resources than spontaneous labors. Moreover, the approach, route, and dose involved in
labor induction may result in adverse clinical outcomes or patient experience of labor. Therefore, it is
imperative to determine optimal methods of labor induction that minimize harm and maximize benefits while
balancing operational costs. In this K01 application, we propose to utilize advanced statistical techniques to
study interventions and timing of labor induction, focusing on benefits, risks, patient preferences, and resource
use. This project will benefit from multiple data sources at Women & Infants Hospital including the labor,
delivery, and recovery floor delivery log, labor induction intake forms, pharmacy claims, patient charts, the
electronic medical record system, and hospital discharge data. Aim 1 will establish what is known about the
comparative effectiveness of labor induction through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Within the clinical
setting at Women & Infants Hospital, we will establish a comprehensive database of deliveries involving labor
induction which will be supplemented by a questionnaire administered to postpartum patients about their labor
induction experience. Analyses conducted as part of Aim 2 will explore patient-centered outcomes and will
apply existing knowledge to the Women & Infants data using mathematical modeling to integrate interventions
for labor induction with different types of outcomes and analyzing treatment effect heterogeneity. The
methodological approach for Aim 3 will include decision analyses and value of information analyses to identify
the most critical areas for future research in other populations. Throughout the project, we will engage
stakeholders that have interest in labor induction including patients, physicians, hospital operations committee,
insurance providers, health departments, and policy makers. The contribution of the proposed research is in
better synthesizing existing studies as well as conducting a prospective analysis that incorporates multiple
interventions and balances multiple outcomes. In every aim of this application, we propose innovative
approaches that will shift current research standards and subsequently influence clinical practice norms. These
technologies and methods are not often used in combination in a continuum of the same study and are not
widely used in obstetrics. The results of the meta-analysis in Aim 1 will lead to a comprehensive summary of
labor induction practices and outcomes studied to-date. We will then use these results to help inform the
analyses in Aim 2. The findings from the mathematical modeling in Aim 2 have the potential to influence policy
and obstetric practice recommendations. T...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9988462
- **Project number:** 5K01HS025013-05
- **Recipient organization:** WOMEN AND INFANTS HOSPITAL-RHODE ISLAND
- **Principal Investigator:** Valery Danilack
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AHRQ
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $113,926
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9988462

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9988462, Comparative Effectiveness of Interventions for Labor Induction (5K01HS025013-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9988462. Licensed CC0.

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