TY - JOUR T1 - International JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood JO - Arch Dis Child SP - A9 LP - A10 VL - 90 IS - suppl 2 A2 - , Y1 - 2005/04/01 UR - http://adc.bmj.com/content/90/suppl_2/A9.abstract N2 - S. S. Shah1, P. S. Shrestha2, F. C. Gami2.1Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, UK; 2Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, India Background: The majority of births in rural areas of developing countries take place at home. Lack of weighing facilities make early and reliable identification of low birth weight (LBW) babies difficult. Aims: To find out the correlation between birth weight and foot length. To detect LBW newborns by using foot length measurement as proxy measure of birth weight. Methods: One thousand live newborns of gestational ages 26–44 weeks were studied at a hospital in Nepal. The foot length, crown-heel length, head circumference, chest circumference, and birth weight were recorded within 24 hours of birth. Results: Foot length measurement showed the highest correlation (r = 0.92) among various anthropometric measurements with birth weight. The correlation between foot length and other anthropometric parameters were higher in preterms than in term babies. The formula, length  =  (foot length × 6.5) ± 20 mm correlated positively. The mean birth weight of newborns was 2931 (SD 464) g. The incidence of LBW babies was 12.6%. The results showed a sensitivity of 70.6%, a specificity of 98.5%, and a positive predictive value of 89.7% for identifying LBW newborns. For very LBW newborns the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value were all 100%. Conclusion: If implemented on a larger scale, this low cost technology of foot length measurement can significantly enhance the yield of identification of LBW babies born at home and babies can be managed thereafter accordingly. When it is difficult to weigh or measure the length accurately, foot length can serve as a useful measurement to assess a baby quickly, especially in preterms nursed in incubators. E. S. … ER -