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Maternal reporting of prepregnancy weight and birth outcome: consistency and completeness compared with the clinical
1School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA. sal1@columbia.edu
Objectives:
We examined whether data obtained by maternal report could be used for research in clinical settings in place of abstraction of the clinical record.
Method:
Reported prepregnancy weight, delivery type, and infant's birth date, birth weight, and length were compared to the same information from the clinical record.
Results:
Reported data, obtained from 198 women, were more complete than data in the 168 clinical records obtained. Prepregnancy weight from the clinical record was highly correlated with weight measured by us in early pregnancy, and with the value reported by the mother (differing significantly only in underweight women, who overreported by 2.4 lbs). There was complete concordance on birth date and method of delivery, and no significant differences in mean birth weight or length, between the reported and recorded information.
Conclusion:
The mother's report is a satisfactory substitute for clinical record data, being consistent with the record, and more complete, yet easier to obtain for clinical studies.