Cooney K, Pathak U, Watson A
St Mary's Hospital, Newport, Isle of Wight.
Arch Dis Child. 1994 Aug;71(2):159-60. doi: 10.1136/adc.71.2.159.
Detection and monitoring childhood growth disorders requires the correct use of growth charts. A check on the accuracy of every point plotted on Gairdner-Pearson growth charts of premature infants in a hospital paediatric department was carried out. Errors beyond set limits were recorded. Of 611 points plotted on the growth charts of 50 premature infants who were at least 1 year of age at the time of the study, there were 173 (28.5%) points plotted in error. Altogether 94.7% of the errors occurred when plotting the age along the horizontal (X) axis of the growth chart, irrespective of whether weight, length, or head circumference was being measured. There was no evidence that the errors caused appreciable changes in clinical management. Potential sources of error identified were failure to adjust for prematurity correctly, inaccuracy in calculating age, and the use of the logarithmic scale. These errors could be serious and it is important that there should be greater vigilance in using growth charts. The use of age calculators or improved chart design is recommended. Assessment of the use of other growth charts in different settings is also suggested.
检测和监测儿童生长障碍需要正确使用生长图表。对某医院儿科病房中绘制在盖尔德纳 - 皮尔逊早产儿生长图表上的每个点的准确性进行了检查。记录超出设定限度的误差。在研究时年龄至少为1岁的50名早产儿的生长图表上绘制的611个点中，有173个（28.5%）点绘制错误。无论测量的是体重、身长还是头围，总共94.7%的误差发生在沿生长图表水平（X）轴绘制年龄时。没有证据表明这些误差导致临床管理有明显变化。确定的潜在误差来源包括未正确校正早产、计算年龄不准确以及使用对数刻度。这些误差可能很严重，在使用生长图表时提高警惕很重要。建议使用年龄计算器或改进图表设计。还建议评估在不同环境中使用其他生长图表的情况。
