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The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study

Low birth weight (LBW, <2.50 kg) and preterm birth (PTB, <37 completed weeks of gestation) are important contributors to neonatal death. Newborn foot length has been reported to identify LBW and PTB babies. The objectives of this study were to determine the diagnostic accuracy of foot length t...

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Autores principales: Mengi, Alice, Vallely, Lisa M., Laman, Moses, Jally, Eunice, Kulimbao, Janeth, Warel, Sharon, Enman, Regina, Aipit, Jimmy, Low, Nicola, Riddell, Michaela A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10284404/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37343037
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001924
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author Mengi, Alice
Vallely, Lisa M.
Laman, Moses
Jally, Eunice
Kulimbao, Janeth
Warel, Sharon
Enman, Regina
Aipit, Jimmy
Low, Nicola
Riddell, Michaela A.
author_facet Mengi, Alice
Vallely, Lisa M.
Laman, Moses
Jally, Eunice
Kulimbao, Janeth
Warel, Sharon
Enman, Regina
Aipit, Jimmy
Low, Nicola
Riddell, Michaela A.
author_sort Mengi, Alice
collection PubMed
description Low birth weight (LBW, <2.50 kg) and preterm birth (PTB, <37 completed weeks of gestation) are important contributors to neonatal death. Newborn foot length has been reported to identify LBW and PTB babies. The objectives of this study were to determine the diagnostic accuracy of foot length to identify LBW and PTB and to compare foot length measurements of a researcher with those of trained volunteers in Papua New Guinea. Newborn babies were enrolled prospectively with written informed consent from their mothers, who were participating in a clinical trial in Madang Province. The reference standards were birth weight, measured by electronic scales and gestational age at birth, based on ultrasound scan and last menstrual period at the first antenatal visit. Newborn foot length was measured within 72 hours of birth with a firm plastic ruler. Optimal foot length cut-off values for LBW and PTB were derived from receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess inter-observer agreement. From 12 October 2019 to 6 January 2021, we enrolled 342 newborns (80% of those eligible); 21.1% (72/342) were LBW and 7.3% (25/342) were PTB. The area under the curve for LBW was 87.0% (95% confidence intervals 82.8–90.2) and for PTB 85.6% (81.5–89.2). The optimal foot length cut-off was <7.7 cm for both LBW (sensitivity 84.7%, 74.7–91.2, specificity 69.6%, 63.9–74.8) and PTB (sensitivity 88.0% (70.0–95.8), specificity 61.8% (56.4–67.0). In 123 babies with paired measurements, the mean difference between the researcher and volunteer measurements was 0.07 cm (95% limits of agreement -0.55 to +0.70) and 7.3% (9/123) of the pairs were outside the 95% limits of agreement. When birth at a health facility is not possible, foot length measurement can identify LBW and PTB in newborns but needs appropriate training for community volunteers and evaluation of its impact on healthcare outcomes.
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spelling pubmed-102844042023-06-22 The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study Mengi, Alice Vallely, Lisa M. Laman, Moses Jally, Eunice Kulimbao, Janeth Warel, Sharon Enman, Regina Aipit, Jimmy Low, Nicola Riddell, Michaela A. PLOS Glob Public Health Research Article Low birth weight (LBW, <2.50 kg) and preterm birth (PTB, <37 completed weeks of gestation) are important contributors to neonatal death. Newborn foot length has been reported to identify LBW and PTB babies. The objectives of this study were to determine the diagnostic accuracy of foot length to identify LBW and PTB and to compare foot length measurements of a researcher with those of trained volunteers in Papua New Guinea. Newborn babies were enrolled prospectively with written informed consent from their mothers, who were participating in a clinical trial in Madang Province. The reference standards were birth weight, measured by electronic scales and gestational age at birth, based on ultrasound scan and last menstrual period at the first antenatal visit. Newborn foot length was measured within 72 hours of birth with a firm plastic ruler. Optimal foot length cut-off values for LBW and PTB were derived from receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess inter-observer agreement. From 12 October 2019 to 6 January 2021, we enrolled 342 newborns (80% of those eligible); 21.1% (72/342) were LBW and 7.3% (25/342) were PTB. The area under the curve for LBW was 87.0% (95% confidence intervals 82.8–90.2) and for PTB 85.6% (81.5–89.2). The optimal foot length cut-off was <7.7 cm for both LBW (sensitivity 84.7%, 74.7–91.2, specificity 69.6%, 63.9–74.8) and PTB (sensitivity 88.0% (70.0–95.8), specificity 61.8% (56.4–67.0). In 123 babies with paired measurements, the mean difference between the researcher and volunteer measurements was 0.07 cm (95% limits of agreement -0.55 to +0.70) and 7.3% (9/123) of the pairs were outside the 95% limits of agreement. When birth at a health facility is not possible, foot length measurement can identify LBW and PTB in newborns but needs appropriate training for community volunteers and evaluation of its impact on healthcare outcomes. Public Library of Science 2023-06-21 /pmc/articles/PMC10284404/ /pubmed/37343037 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001924 Text en © 2023 Mengi et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Mengi, Alice
Vallely, Lisa M.
Laman, Moses
Jally, Eunice
Kulimbao, Janeth
Warel, Sharon
Enman, Regina
Aipit, Jimmy
Low, Nicola
Riddell, Michaela A.
The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study
title The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study
title_full The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study
title_fullStr The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study
title_full_unstemmed The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study
title_short The use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in Papua New Guinea: A diagnostic accuracy study
title_sort use of newborn foot length to identify low birth weight and preterm babies in papua new guinea: a diagnostic accuracy study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10284404/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37343037
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001924
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