Lule, Swaib A; Webb, Emily L; Ndibazza, Juliet; Nampijja, Margaret; Muhangi, Lawrence; Akello, Florence; Kakande, Muhammed; Kizindo, Robert; Elliott, Alison M; (2012) Maternal recall of birthweight and birth size in Entebbe, Uganda. Tropical medicine & international health, 17 (12). pp. 1465-1469. ISSN 1360-2276 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2012.03091.x
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the reliability of maternally recalled birthweight and size in Entebbe, Uganda. METHODS: The study population comprised 404 mothers, who were participants in the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study (EMaBS). Mothers were recruited to EMaBS during antenatal care, maternal characteristics were recorded during pregnancy, and birthweight was recorded at delivery. Four to seven years after delivery, mothers were asked to recall the child's birthweight and size. Their responses were compared with the birthweight recorded in the EMaBS database. RESULTS: Of 404 interviewed mothers, 303 (75%) were able to give an estimate of birthweight and for 265 of these EMaBS data on recorded birthweights were available. Women who were educated and whose children had low birth order were more likely to be able to give an estimate: 37 (14%) recalled the exact recorded birthweight; a further 52 (20%) were accurate to within 0.1 kg of the recorded weight. On average, mothers overestimated birthweight by 0.06 kg (95% CI: 0.00-0.13 kg, P = 0.04). Recalled and recorded birthweights showed moderate agreement with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.64. Four hundered mothers gave an estimate of birth size: the sensitivity and specificity of recalled birth size for classifying low birthweight were 76% (95% CI: 50-93%) and 70% (95% CI: 65-75%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers' recall of birthweight was not precise but in absence of other data, recall of birthweight and size may have some value in epidemiological studies in these settings.
Item Type | Article |
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Faculty and Department |
Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases > Dept of Clinical Research |
Research Centre | Tropical Epidemiology Group |
PubMed ID | 22994260 |
ISI | 311394900007 |
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