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Parental recall of birth weight: how accurate is it?
J J O'Sullivan1, M S Pearce, L Parker
1The Department of Child Health, Sir James Spence Institute, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. j.j.o'sullivan@ncl.ac.uk
Insights
Parental recall of birth weight is highly accurate for up to 16 years, unaffected by social class or child's age. This finding supports its use in studies linking birth weight to adult hypertension.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Accurate birth weight data is crucial for epidemiological studies.
- Parental recall is often used as a data source.
- Factors influencing recall accuracy require investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the precision of parental recall of birth weight.
- To determine if socioeconomic status and child's age impact recall accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Questionnaires administered to parents of children aged 6-15 years.
- Hospital birth weight records were obtained for verification.
- Comparison of recalled versus recorded birth weights.
Main Results:
- 75% of recalled birth weights were within 50g of hospital records.
- No significant correlation found between recall accuracy and parental social class.
- No significant correlation found between recall accuracy and child's age.
Conclusions:
- Parental recall of birth weight is reliable across social classes and up to 16 years post-delivery.
- No systematic bias was detected in recalled birth weights.
- Findings support the validity of using recalled birth weight in research.
Objective:
To assess the accuracy of parental recall of birth weight in a British population and to investigate whether social class and age of the child significantly influence the accuracy of recalled birth weight.
Methods:
A questionnaire was given to parents whose children were participating in a blood pressure study and the hospital records were retrieved to check the birth weight data.
Results:
At the time of the study, the children (n = 649) ranged in age from 6 to 15 years. Seventy five per cent of the recalled birth weights were within 50 g of that recorded in the hospital records. No significant associations were found between the difference in birth weights (recalled birth weight minus hospital record) and social class of the parents or age of the child at time of data collection.
Conclusion:
This large study shows that parental recall of birth weight is good across the social classes and up to 16 years after delivery. There was no evidence of systematic bias, which would prejudice results of studies on the relation of birth weight to adult hypertension.