Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Ann Med. 2012 Jun;44(4):369-74. doi: 10.3109/07853890.2011.558519. Epub 2011 Apr 15.
In the evaluation of the growth of head circumference (HC), charts depicting normal growth are of paramount importance. Current Finnish HC growth charts are based on data from only 130 children born 1953-1964. As a secular trend in HC growth has been reported, we updated the HC charts using a large sample of contemporary HC data.
Mixed cross-sectional HC data of 19,715 healthy subjects aged 0-7 years were collected from primary health care providers. References for HC for age and HC/height ratio for age were fitted using generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS).
Increased HC for age was seen particularly after 2 years of age in both genders compared to the 1953-1964 reference. The SD for HC was remarkably larger in the 1953-1964 reference. The proportion of 1986-2008 reference subjects exceeding the +2 SD limit of the 1953-1964 reference was much bigger than the proportion below -2 SD.
Because of the secular change in HC growth, the HC reference has to be renewed periodically. The new Finnish reference for HC for age should be implemented for monitoring HC growth of children in Finland.
在评估头围（HC）增长时，描绘正常增长的图表至关重要。目前的芬兰 HC 增长图表基于 1953 年至 1964 年出生的仅 130 名儿童的数据。由于 HC 增长存在长期趋势，我们使用大量当代 HC 数据更新了 HC 图表。
从初级保健提供者处收集了 19715 名 0-7 岁健康受试者的混合横截面 HC 数据。使用位置、比例和形状的广义加性模型（GAMLSS）拟合年龄的 HC 参考值和年龄的 HC/身高比参考值。
与 1953-1964 年的参考值相比，两性在 2 岁以后的年龄头围增长更为明显。1953-1964 年参考值的 HC 标准差明显更大。1986-2008 年参考值受试者超过 1953-1964 年参考值+2 SD 限制的比例比低于-2 SD 的比例大得多。
由于 HC 生长的长期变化，HC 参考值必须定期更新。新的芬兰年龄头围参考值应在芬兰用于监测儿童 HC 生长。
