Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30505673›Full record

ReviewAfrican journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence2017

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the accuracy of weight estimation systems used in paediatric emergency care in developing countries.

Mike Wells, Lara Nicole Goldstein, Alison Bentley

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Development and Validation of Indian Children Length-based Tape (InChiTape) for Use in Critically Sick Children.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Weight estimation in two groups of Ghanaian children with chronic diseases using Broselow, Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL-MAC tapes.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2023
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Comparison of paediatric weight estimation methods at a tertiary hospital in Ghana.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2021
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Validation of two pediatric resuscitation tapes.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2020
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Observational
  19. Article
  20. Estimating children's weight in a Rwandan emergency centre.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Mike WellsDivision of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Lara Nicole GoldsteinDivision of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Alison BentleyDivision of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionWhen weight cannot be measured during the management of medical emergencies in children, a convenient, quick and accurate method of weight estimation is required, as many drug doses and other interventions are based on body weight. Many weight estimation methodologies in current use have been shown to be inaccurate, especially in low- and middle-income countries with a high prevalence of underweight children. This meta-analysis evaluated the accuracy of weight estimation systems in children from studies from low- and middle-income countries.

methodsArticles from low- and middle-income countries were screened for inclusion to evaluate and compare the accuracy of existing systems and the newer dual length- and habitus-based methods, using standard meta-analysis techniques.

resultsThe 2D systems and parental estimates performed best overall. The PAWPER tape, parental estimates, the Wozniak method and the Mercy method were the most accurate systems with percentage of weight estimates within 10% of actual weight (PW10) accuracies of 86.9%, 80.4%, 72.1% and 71.4% respectively. The Broselow tape (PW10 47.1%) achieved a moderate accuracy and age-based estimates a very low accuracy (PW10 11.8-47.5%).

conclusionsThe PAWPER tape, the Wozniak method and the Mercy method achieved an acceptable level of accuracy in studies from low- and middle-income countries and should preferentially be used and further advanced for clinical emergency medicine practice. Parental estimates may be considered if the regular caregiver of the child is present and a recent measured weight is known. The Broselow tape and age-based formulas should be abandoned in low- and middle-income country populations as they are potentially dangerously inaccurate.

Indexed as

Broselow tapeLow- and middle-income countriesMercy methodPAWPER tapeWeight estimation

Identifiers

PMID30505673
PMCPMC6246873

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.