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Investigating the accuracy of parentally reported weights and lengths at 12 months of age as compared to measured weights and lengths in a longitudinal childhood genome study.
- Source :
-
BMJ open [BMJ Open] 2016 Aug 04; Vol. 6 (8), pp. e011653. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Aug 04. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Background: Childhood obesity studies rely on parentally reported anthropometrics. However, the accuracy of such data has not been evaluated for 12-month-old children. Moreover, methods to improve the accuracy of reported data have not been assessed in prior studies.<br />Methods: A total of 185 children enrolled in a northern Virginia childhood longitudinal cohort genomic study had parentally completed surveys at 12 months. Measured weights and lengths were recorded for the same children from their 12-month paediatrician visit. Weight for length percentiles were calculated using World Health Organization gender-specific growth charts. The agreement between reported and measured values was examined using Pearson's correlation, paired t-test and κ statistics. The interquartile outlier rule was used to detect and remove outliers.<br />Results: Parentally reported weight was strongly associated with measured weight at 12 months (r=0.90). There was only a moderate correlation between parentally reported and measured lengths (r=0.52) and calculated weight for length percentiles (r=0.65). After removing outliers from parentally reported data, there was an increase in correlation between parentally reported and measured data for weight (r=0.93), length (r=0.69) and weight for length percentiles (r=0.76). Outliers removed compared to all children included were more likely to have maternal education less than a bachelor's degree (p=0.007).<br />Conclusions: After removal of outliers from reported data, there is a strong correlation between calculated reported and measured weight for length percentiles suggesting that this may be an effective method to increase accuracy when conducting large-scale obesity studies in young children where study costs benefit from using parentally reported data.<br /> (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2044-6055
- Volume :
- 6
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- BMJ open
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27491670
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011653