COMPARATIVE STUDY
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Small for gestational age neonates--are we missing some by only using standard population growth standards and does it matter?

OBJECTIVES: Birth weight below the 10th percentile on growth charts based on population norms or small for gestational age (SGA) is associated with adverse perinatal outcome. We compare the association among neonatal mortality, morbidity and SGA as determined by currently used percentiles based on population standards (method A) and customised birth weight percentiles (method B).

METHODS: Study of outcomes of SGA neonates from a cohort of 6125 consecutive pregnancies, analysed in function of the method (A or B) used to diagnose SGA.

RESULTS: There were 831 SGA infants, 84% were born at term and the majority were of European origin (61.4%). By method A, there was a sixfold decrease in the prevalence of SGA babies (2.3%) compared with method B (13.5%). After correcting for prematurity, SGA infants diagnosed by method B alone (not identified by standard population method) still constituted a high proportion of infants with hypothermia and hypoglycaemia (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Customised charts identified six times more SGA infants than standard charts. These infants, considered appropriately grown by standard charts, are at a significantly higher risk of morbidity.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app