Observational studyBMJ open2024
Postnatal foot length measurement as a proxy to identify low birth weight for frontline health workers in rural Sindh Province, Pakistan: a diagnostic accuracy study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT05515211 (Diagnostic Accuracy of Foot Length in Predicting Preterm and Low Birth Weight Using Ultrasound Dating as The Gold Standard in a Rural District of Pakistan), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Foot Length in Predicting Preterm and Low Birth Weight Using Ultrasound Dating as The Gold Standard in a Rural District of Pakistan
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Accuracy and utility of newborn foot length screening tools to identify small babies by mothers in Sidama Region, Ethiopia.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the diagnostic accuracy of postnatal foot length (FL) measurements as a proxy to identify low birth weight (LBW) for frontline healthcare workers in rural Sindh Province, Pakistan.
designA community-based cross-sectional study.
settingThis study was conducted in the catchment area of Global Network's Maternal and Newborn Health Registry, Thatta, Sindh Province, Pakistan, from January to June 2023.
participantsSingleton live births irrespective of gestational age at birth. REFERENCE STANDARD: Birth weight was measured using calibrated digital weighing scales in grams based on the average of three readings with minimal clothing. INDEX TEST: FL was measured within 48 hours of birth using a rigid transparent plastic ruler in centimetres based on the average of three measurements. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), receiver operating characteristics curve and area under the curve with 95% CI were calculated. Euclidean distance was used to identify the cutoff of FL to identify LBW. A simple linear equation was created to predict the birth weight.
resultsOut of 336 analysed newborns, 179 (53.3%) were male and 157 (46.7%) were female. The median birth weight was 2801 g (IQR: 2465-3057), of whom 88 (26.2%) were LBW. The median foot length was 7.9 cm (IQR: 7.6-8.1). For identifying LBW, the foot length cutoff was ≤7.6 cm with 90.3% sensitivity, 81.8% specificity, 63.8% PPV and 96.0% NPV. A FL of 7.6 cm predicted birth weight of 2459.4 g.
conclusionPostnatal FL cutoff of ≤7.6 cm has adequate predictive value served as a simple, low-cost and reliable method to identify LBW for frontline healthcare providers in the rural settings of Thatta without calibrated weighing scales to triage LBW newborns in need of higher-level care. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05515211.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.