ArticleBMC medical research methodology2021
Methodological approaches to imputing early-pregnancy weight based on weight measures collected during pregnancy.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effect of prenatal balanced energy and protein supplementation on gestational weight gain: An individual participant data meta-analysis in low- and middle-income countries.PLoS medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation on small vulnerable newborn types in low-income and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of individual participant data.The Lancet. Global health · 2025Pooled it
- Suboptimal gestational weight gain and neonatal outcomes in low and middle income countries: individual participant data meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Pooled it
- Risk factors for inadequate and excessive gestational weight gain in 25 low- and middle-income countries: An individual-level participant meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of prenatal nutritional supplements on gestational weight gain in low- and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of individual participant data.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplements and medium-quantity lipid-based nutritional supplements on maternal weight gain and infant birth weight in rural Niger: a cluster-randomised trial.BMJ global health · 2025Trial
- Gestational weight gain during the second and third trimesters and adverse pregnancy outcomes, results from a prospective pregnancy cohort in urban Tanzania.Reproductive health · 2022Trial
- Multivitamin Supplementation Is Associated with Greater Adequacy of Gestational Weight Gain among Pregnant Women in Tanzania.The Journal of nutrition · 2022Trial
- Gestational weight gain and maternal immediate perinatal and postpartum outcomes in low and middle income countries: individual participant data meta-analyses.BMJ medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Establishment of a Latin American dataset to enable the construction of gestational weight gain charts for adolescents.PloS one · 2024Article
- Dietary diversity and diet quality with gestational weight gain and adverse birth outcomes, results from a prospective pregnancy cohort study in urban Tanzania.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Article
- Plasma concentrations of leptin at mid-pregnancy are associated with gestational weight gain among pregnant women in Tanzania: a prospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Observational
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Abstract
backgroundEarly pregnancy weights are needed to quantify gestational weight gain accurately. Different methods have been used in previous studies to impute early-pregnancy weights. However, no studies have systematically compared imputed weight accuracy across different imputation techniques. This study aimed to compare four methodological approaches to imputing early-pregnancy weight, using repeated measures of pregnancy weights collected from two pregnancy cohorts in Tanzania.
methodsThe mean gestational ages at enrollment were 17.8 weeks for Study I and 10.0 weeks for Study II. Given the gestational age distributions at enrollment, early-pregnancy weights were extrapolated for Study I and interpolated for Study II. The four imputation approaches included: (i) simple imputation based on the nearest measure, (ii) simple arithmetic imputation based on the nearest two measures, (iii) mixed-effects models, and (iv) marginal models with generalized estimating equations. For the mixed-effects model and the marginal model with generalized estimating equation methods, imputation accuracy was further compared across varying degrees of model flexibility by fitting splines and polynomial terms. Additional analyses included dropping third-trimester weights, adding covariate to the models, and log-transforming weight before imputation. Mean absolute error was used to quantify imputation accuracy.
resultsStudy I included 1472 women with 6272 weight measures; Study II included 2131 individuals with 11,775 weight measures. Among the four imputation approaches, mixed-effects models had the highest accuracy (smallest mean absolute error: 1.99 kg and 1.60 kg for Studies I and II, respectively), while the other three approaches showed similar degrees of accuracy. Depending on the underlying data structure, allowing appropriate degree of model flexibility and dropping remote pregnancy weight measures may further improve the imputation performance.
conclusionsMixed-effects models had superior performance in imputing early-pregnancy weight compared to other commonly used strategies.
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