Skip Navigation

Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 2004 50(5):285-291; doi:10.1093/tropej/50.5.285
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sunjoh, F.
Right arrow Articles by Kago, I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sunjoh, F.
Right arrow Articles by Kago, I.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Original Papers

Assessment of Gestational Age in the Cameroonian Newborn Infant: A Comparison of Four Scoring Methods

F. SunjohA1,, A. K. NjamnshiA1, F. TietcheA2 and I. KagoA2

A1 Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon A2 Neonatology Service, Mother and Child Centre of the Chantal Biya Foundation of Yaounde, Cameroon

A clinical assessment of gestational age using four different methods was performed in the same population of 358 Cameroonian newborn infants with the aim of determining the most applicable in the local context. Method applicability was compared in terms of validity, accuracy, reliability, and ease of administration. The gestational age ranged from 25 to 44 weeks. The infants were evaluated within 72 h from birth, using the scoring methods of Farr (FSM), Dubowitz (DSM), Ballard (New Ballard Score—NBS) and Eregie (ESM). The DSM was the most valid with a 93 per cent agreement within 2 weeks of gestational age by dates followed by the ESM with 92.4 per cent. The NBS and the FSM showed lower validity of 85.6 per cent and 78.3 per cent respectively. The ESM was the most accurate with a mean difference (MD) in weeks ( 1 SD) between gestational age by method and gestational age by dates of 0.259 1.376, followed by the NBS with 0.355 1.51. The DSM was fairly accurate with a MD of 0.500 1.31, and the FSM the least accurate with a MD of 1.228 1.495. The DSM was the most reliable with a high correlation coefficient (r) of 0.94. The NBS and the ESM had comparable reliability with correlation coefficient of 0.93 each. The easiest to administer was the ESM, completed in an average of 41 s, followed by the FSM in 1 min 22 s. The NBS was completed in 2 min 48 s and the DSM in 4 min 28 s.We concluded that the Eregie model has comparable validity and reliability to the Dubowitz score but is more accurate, simple, and very easy to administer. It is therefore recommended where the workload is heavy and health personnel limited, as is the case in developing countries.

* Correspondence: Dr Frida Sunjoh, Provincial Hospital Bamenda, Northwest Province, Cameroon. E-mail <flsunjoh{at}yahoo.com>


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.