Antenatal Risk Scoring Scale for Predication of Low Birth Weight and Its Validity.

BACKGROUND

Prediction of low birth weight (LBW) early during pregnancy may prevent LBW by appropriate interventions.

AIMS/OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to develop an antenatal risk scoring scale for prediction of LBW.

SUBJECT AND METHODS

Routine and in-depth information on diet, occupation, and rest was collected from November 1, 2013, to November 13, 2015. A cohort of 1876 and subset of 380 pregnant women attending Krishna Hospital Karad, Maharashtra, India.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Multivariate analysis and relative risks (RRs) were found out by SPSS version 16 and tested on a separate set of 251 mothers.

RESULTS

The frequency of meals of <4, hard work <6 h of sleep and illiteracy, antenatal morbidity, <10 kg weight gain, <40 kg maternal weight, and anemia during the first trimester were the risk factors identified from subset and cohort, respectively. Based on their RRs, a new scoring system with a total score of 24 and cutoff "12" was identified by using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis with 98.6% sensitivity and 41.1% specificity as tested on 251-independent individuals. The second cutoff of "15" score was identified based on the prevalence of LBW in babies of these 251 mothers.

CONCLUSIONS

The identification of low-, moderate-, and high-risk of LBW was possible at <12, between 12 and 15, and >15 scores, respectively, with good sensitivity and specificity.