Fetal growth curves: does classification of weight-for-gestational age predict risk of hypoglycemia in the term newborn? J Midwifery Womens Health 2006;51(1):39-44
Date
01/10/2006Pubmed ID
16399609DOI
10.1016/j.jmwh.2005.08.011Scopus ID
2-s2.0-30344446629 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 1 CitationAbstract
Our objective was to determine whether classification of birth weight as small, average, or large for gestational age using published fetal growth curves is predictive of a term infant's risk of hypoglycemia. This prospective, descriptive study measured and plotted birth weight measurements on six published fetal growth curves to classify infant birth weight as small, average, or large for gestational age. Glucose levels were measured 2 hours after birth to determine the prevalence of hypoglycemia. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive/negative predictive values were calculated for each fetal growth curve, and odds ratios were calculated. The patients were 157 clinically stable term Caucasian and African American infants of nondiabetic mothers from a community hospital in midwestern United States. Ten of the 20 (50%) infants with hypoglycemia were classified as average for gestational age on all six published fetal growth curves. Calculated odds ratios demonstrated that none of the six published fetal growth curves significantly predicted the risk of hypoglycemia based on classification of birth weight as small, average, or large for gestational age. The risk of hypoglycemia in term infants was not accurately predicted by classification of birth weight as small, average, or large for gestational age. Clinicians should use other methods to predict which term infants are at risk for hypoglycemia.
Author List
Johnson TS, Hillery JM, Engstrom JLAuthor
Teresa Johnson PhD Associate Professor in the Nursing department at University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Birth WeightFemale
Fetal Development
Gestational Age
Humans
Hypoglycemia
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy
Risk Assessment
