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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Mid-arm circumference can be used to estimate children's weights

G N Cattermole1, P Y M Leung, P S K Mak

  • 1Accident and Emergency Medicine Academic Unit, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. gncattermole@cuhk.edu.hk

Resuscitation
|July 13, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Mid-arm circumference offers a reliable method for estimating children's weight, outperforming age-based methods in school-aged children. This simple formula provides an alternative to existing tools for rapid weight estimation.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  • Anthropometry
  • Clinical Biometrics

Background:

  • Accurate pediatric weight estimation is critical in resuscitation for drug dosing and equipment selection.
  • Current methods include age-based formulas and height-based tools like the Broselow tape.
  • Alternative anthropometric measures such as foot-length and mid-arm circumference have been proposed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify the strongest correlate of weight among age, height, foot-length, and mid-arm circumference in healthy children.
  • To develop a simple weight-estimation formula based on the strongest correlate.
  • To compare the performance of the new formula against existing weight-estimation tools.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective observational study involving Hong Kong Chinese children aged 1-11 years.
  • Measurements included weight, height, foot-length, and mid-arm circumference.
  • Multiple and linear regression analyses were used to derive and validate the weight-estimation formula.

Main Results:

  • Mid-arm circumference demonstrated the strongest relationship with weight, which strengthened with age.
  • A formula, weight [kg]=(mid-arm circumference [cm]-10) x 3, was derived.
  • This formula was comparable in accuracy and precision to the Broselow tape and superior to age-based methods in school-aged children, but not pre-schoolers.

Conclusions:

  • A mid-arm circumference-based weight-estimation formula is reliable for school-aged children.
  • An arm-tape utilizing this formula could serve as a viable alternative to the Broselow tape for this age group.
Abstract

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