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Foot Length, Chest Circumference, and Mid Upper Arm Circumference Are Good Predictors of Low Birth Weight and Prematurity in Ethnic Minority Newborns in Vietnam: A Hospital-Based Observational Study.

Authors :
Hai Nguyen Thi
Dung Khu Thi Khanh
Ha Le Thi Thu
Emma G Thomas
Katherine J Lee
Fiona M Russell
Source :
PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 11, p e0142420 (2015)
Publication Year :
2015
Publisher :
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2015.

Abstract

The evaluation of tools to accurately identify low birth weight (LBW) and/or premature newborns in resource-limited countries is a research priority. We explored the use of foot length, chest circumference, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measured within 24 h as diagnostic tools for identifying newborns who are LBW, premature, or both; and compared measurements taken at birth with those taken at five days of age.An observational study was undertaken in Hoa Binh Province General Hospital, Vietnam, in ethnic minority newborns. Birth weight, foot length, chest circumference, and MUAC were measured within 24 h of birth and in a subset of 200, were repeated on day five of life. Gestational age was estimated using the New Ballard Score. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves and optimal cut-points (the point with the highest sensitivity and specificity where the sensitivity was at least 0.8) were calculated, for predicting prematurity, LBW, and both. Measurements within 24 h and at five days of life were compared.485 newborns were recruited. Chest circumference and MUAC measured within 24 h of birth were found to be highly predictive of LBW (both yielding area under the curve [AUC] of 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96-0.99), and performed marginally better than foot length (AUC 0.94, 95%CI 0.92-0.96). The optimal cut-points for measurements within 24 h of birth were ≤ 7.4 cm for foot length; ≤ 30.4 cm for chest circumference; and ≤ 9.0 cm for MUAC. There was statistical evidence that anthropometric measurements taken within 24 h of birth were higher than measurements on day five (p

Subjects

Subjects :
Medicine
Science

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19326203
Volume :
10
Issue :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
PLoS ONE
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.13d7765c9e994f4eab420e2a507a51f0
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0142420