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Dodge, K. A., Goodman, W. B., Murphy, R. A., O’Donnell, K., Sato, J., & Guptill, S. (2014). Implementation and randomized controlled trial evaluation of universal postnatal nurse home visiting. American Journal of Public Health, 104(S1), S136–S143.

Model(s) Reviewed: Family Connects
Additional sources:

WWHV038501

Dodge, K. A., Goodman, W. B., Murphy, R., O’Donnell, K. T., & Sato, J. M. (2013). Toward population impact from home visiting. Zero to Three, 33(3), 17-23.
Manuscript screening details
Screening decision Screening conclusion HomVEE procedures and standards version
Passes screens Eligible for review Version 1
Study design details
Rating Design Attrition Baseline equivalence Compromised randomization Confounding factors Valid, reliable measure(s)
Moderate Randomized controlled trial Low Established on race; not established on SES; not established on outcome measures assessable at baseline No None Not assessed in manuscripts reviewed before 2021
Study characteristics
Study participants Among 4,777 residential births from July 1, 2009, through December 31, 2010, the authors randomly selected one family with a birth on each even day to receive Durham Connects, and one family with a birth on each odd day to be followed as the control group. If those selected did not consent to be studied, the authors replaced them with a randomly selected family from the same birth date with the same race/ethnicity. Among the 664 families enrolled in the study, 531 participated in follow-up data collection. Participating families were approximately one-quarter non-Hispanic white, 40 percent black, one-quarter Hispanic, and 9 percent were another race or ethnicity. Mothers were about 28 years old on average. Control group babies had slightly worse birth outcomes (on average) than control group babies. Eight percent of control group babies had a birth complication, whereas only 4 percent of Durham Connects babies had a birth complication (a statistically significant difference, p less than 0.05).
Setting Durham, North Carolina
Intervention services Durham Connects services consist of a total of four to seven contacts: a contact at the birthing hospital, one to three nurse home visits when infants are age 3 to 12 weeks, one or two nurse contacts with a community service provider, and a telephone or in-person follow-up contact one month later.
Comparison conditions Families in the comparison condition could receive other services in their community, but were not eligible to receive Durham Connects services.
Subgroups examined This field lists subgroups examined in the manuscript (even if they were not replicated in other samples and not reported on the summary page for this model’s report).

• Maternal childcare use (uses out-of-home care)

Funding sources The Duke Endowment, the Pew Center on the States, NIH Grants K05DA15226 and P30DA023026.
Author affiliation The authors are affiliated with the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University, which sponsors Durham Connects.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed status is not listed for manuscripts reviewed before 2021.
Study Registration:

Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01406184

Findings that rate moderate or high

Child health
Rating Outcome measure Effect Sample Timing of follow-up Sample size Intervention group Comparison group Group difference Effect size Statistical significance Notes
Moderate Did not have emergency medical care episodes (hospital records), proportion
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.74 Unadjusted proportion = 0.72 Mean difference = 0.02 HomVEE calculated = 0.06 Not statistically significant, p=0.50
Moderate Did not have emergency medical care episodes (parent report) proportion
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.50 Unadjusted proportion = 0.51 Mean difference = -0.01 HomVEE calculated = -0.03 Not statistically significant, p=0.70
Moderate Most recent well-baby visit within past month
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.70 Unadjusted proportion = 0.67 OR = 1.12 HomVEE calculated = 0.07 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.54
Moderate No. of emergency department visits (hospital records)
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.32 Unadjusted mean = 0.39 Mean difference = 0.14 HomVEE calculated = -0.09 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.36
Moderate No. of emergency medical visits (parent report)
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.82 Unadjusted mean = 0.98 Mean difference = 0.17 HomVEE calculated = -0.12 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.07
Moderate No. of overnights in hospital (parent report)
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.08 Unadjusted mean = 0.40 Mean difference = 1.60 Study reported = 0.20 Statistically significant, p<0.001
Moderate No. of total emergency medical care episodes (hospital records)
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.43 Unadjusted mean = 1.05 Mean difference = 0.91 Study reported = 0.26 Statistically significant, p<0.001
Moderate No. of total emergency medical care episodes (parent report)
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.89 Unadjusted mean = 1.37 Mean difference = 0.40 Study reported = 0.21 Statistically significant, p<0.001
Moderate Three or more emergency medical care episodes (hospital records), proportion
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.03 Unadjusted proportion = 0.09 Mean difference = -0.05 HomVEE calculated = -0.65 Statistically significant, p<0.01
Moderate Three or more emergency medical care episodes (parent report), proportion
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.09 Unadjusted proportion = 0.13 Mean difference = -0.04 HomVEE calculated = -0.26 Statistically significant, p<0.01
Moderate Two or more emergency medical care episodes (hospital records), proportion
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.10 Unadjusted proportion = 0.15 Mean difference = -0.06 HomVEE calculated = -0.31 Statistically significant, p<0.01
Moderate Two or more emergency medical care episodes (parent report), proportion
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.21 Unadjusted proportion = 0.25 Mean difference = -0.04 HomVEE calculated = -0.13 Not statistically significant, p=0.13
Linkages and referrals
Rating Outcome measure Effect Sample Timing of follow-up Sample size Intervention group Comparison group Group difference Effect size Statistical significance Notes
Moderate No. of community connections
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 5.02 Unadjusted mean = 4.31 Mean difference = 0.86 Study reported = 0.28 Statistically significant, p<0.001
Maternal health
Rating Outcome measure Effect Sample Timing of follow-up Sample size Intervention group Comparison group Group difference Effect size Statistical significance Notes
Moderate Mother possible anxiety disorder
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.21 Unadjusted proportion = 0.30 OR = 0.65 HomVEE calculated = -0.27 Statistically significant, p<0.05
Moderate Mother possible clinical depression disorder
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.08 Unadjusted proportion = 0.12 OR = 0.69 HomVEE calculated = -0.29 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.25
Moderate Mother possible substance use problems
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 530 families Unadjusted proportion = 0.05 Unadjusted proportion = 0.06 OR = 0.80 HomVEE calculated = -0.19 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.58
Positive parenting practices
Rating Outcome measure Effect Sample Timing of follow-up Sample size Intervention group Comparison group Group difference Effect size Statistical significance Notes
Moderate Father–infant relationship quality
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 524 families Unadjusted mean = 2.09 Unadjusted mean = 1.92 Mean difference = 0.11 HomVEE calculated = 0.21 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.08
Moderate Mother knowledge of infant development
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.75 Unadjusted mean = 0.77 Mean difference = 0.02 HomVEE calculated = -0.11 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.10
Moderate Mother negative parenting behaviors
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 0.32 Unadjusted mean = 0.33 Mean difference = 0.02 HomVEE calculated = -0.03 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.59
Moderate Mother positive parenting behaviors
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 4.12 Unadjusted mean = 4.01 Mean difference = 0.10 Study reported = 0.25 Statistically significant, p<0.01
Moderate Mother sense of parenting competence
FavorableUnfavorable or ambiguousNo Effect
Interviewed subsample, 7/2009-12/2010 births Infant Age 6 months 531 families Unadjusted mean = 4.62 Unadjusted mean = 4.63 Mean difference = 0.01 HomVEE calculated = -0.02 Not statistically significant,
p = 0.83