Caesarean section trends in Catalonia between 2013 and 2017 based on the Robson classification system: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: In Catalonia caesarean rates have always been analysed as a single percentage. The objective is to estimate caesarean section rates using the Robson classification in publicly funded hospitals in Catalonia between 2013 and 2017, considering sociodemographic, institutional and obstetric characteristics. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional population-based study in Catalonia including all women delivering within publicly funded hospitals between 2013–2017 (n = 210 020). The modified Robson classification distribution was estimated, the caesarean rate and the overall contribution, analysed for each year, and by confounders, through logistic regression models. Results: CS rates decreased steadily between 2013 and 2017 in Catalonia within publicly funded hospitals from 24.3% to 22.8% (cOR 0.92, 95% CI; 0.89 to 0.95). Once adjusted for changes in sociodemographic, institutional and obstetric characteristics the observed decline was even more pronounced (aOR 0.87, 95% CI; 0.84 to 0.90). Within the different groups of Robson once adjusted for confounders, groups 1+2 (aOR 0.88, 95% CI; 0.83 to 0.93), 3+4 (aOR 0.83, 95% CI; 0.78 to 0.89) and 10 (aOR 0.78, 95% CI; 0.68 to 0.90) presented a reduction in caesarean section rates, whereas group 5 showed no significant decrease (aOR 0.95, 95% CI; 0.87 to 1.03%). Conclusions: The decrease in caesarean section rates in Catalonia is more pronounced when adjusted for known confounders, suggesting retrospective overutilization of caesarean section and percentages of (in)adequacy in the past. In any case, it remains above the recommended by experts. Further efforts should be made to achieve optimum rates, including improvement on obstetric data collection