Sonographic estimate of birth weight: relative accuracy of sonographers versus maternal–fetal medicine specialists
- 1 January 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
- Vol. 11 (2), 108-112
- https://doi.org/10.1080/jmf.11.2.108.112
Abstract
Objective: To compare the relative accuracy of predicting birth weight among registered diagnostic medical sonographers versus maternal-fetal medicine specialists. Study design: Over 7 months all patients who delivered within 2 weeks and had sonographic measurements of femur length and head and abdominal circumferences by sonographers and physicians were included in the analysis. The exclusion criteria were multiple gestation and anomalous fetuses. Receiver operating-characteristic curves (ROC) were constructed to determine the ability to detect intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR; birth weight < 2500 g) and macrosomia (birth weight ≥ 4000 g) among term (gestational age ≥ 37 weeks) parturients. A level of p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Among 365 patients recruited, the mean gestational age was 37.3 ± 2.4 weeks with a mean birth weight of 3083 ± 72.5 g. Among term patients the prevalence of IUGR was 7.5% (18/238) and of macrosomia 12% (29/238). A significantly higher percentage of predictions were within 10% of the birth weight when obtained by sonographers (70%) than physicians (54%; p < 0.0001). Registered sonographers were significantly more likely to detect IUGR than the specialists (area under the ROC curves 0.97 ± 0.02 vs. 0.92 ± 0.02, respectively; p = 0.02). Both groups had similar accuracy in detecting macrosomic fetuses (area under the ROC curves 0.92 ± 0.02 for sonographers and 0.90 ± 0.02 for physicians; p = 0.40). Conclusions: Prediction of birth weight is significantly more accurate when sonographers rather than maternal-fetal medicine specialists perform the ultrasonographic examination.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Limitations of Clinical and Sonographic Estimates of Birth Weight: Experience With 1034 ParturientsObstetrics & Gynecology, 1998
- Recent changes in delivery site of low-birth-weight infants in Washington: Impact on birth weight-specific mortalityAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1995
- Intrapartum Detection of a Maerosomie Fetus: Clinieal Versus 8 Sonographic ModelsAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1995
- Sonographic assessment of birth weight among breech presentationsUltrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 1995
- Aggressive versus expectant management of severe preeclampsia at 28 to 32 weeks' gestation: A randomized controlled trialAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1994
- Birth weight threshold for postponing preterm birthAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1992
- Detection of small‐for‐gestational‐age fetuses by ultrasound screening in a high risk population: a randomized controlled studyBJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1992
- Ultrasonographic estimation of fetal weight in the clinically macrosomic fetusAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1990
- The meaning and use of the area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Radiology, 1982