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Analysis of parental estimates of children's weights in the ED
Insights
Parents accurately estimated their child's weight within 10% in 80% of cases. This parental weight estimation proved more accurate than a standard age-based formula for children aged newborn to 5 years.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Clinical Assessment
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Accurate pediatric weight measurement is crucial for medication dosing and clinical decision-making.
- Parental estimation of child weight is a potential tool in resource-limited settings or emergencies.
- Existing age-based formulas for estimating pediatric weight have shown variable accuracy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the accuracy of parental weight estimations for children.
- To compare parental weight estimations with a standard age-based weight estimation formula.
Main Methods:
- A convenience sample of 117 children (newborn to 5 years) was recruited from a tertiary care hospital ED.
- Parents estimated their child's weight, which was then compared to the actual weight measured by a triage nurse.
- Parental estimates and an age-based formula-derived weight were compared against the scale-measured weight.
Main Results:
- Parental weight estimates were within 10% of the actual weight in 80% of cases (94/117).
- The mean difference between parental estimates and actual weight was 6.8% +/- 9.8%.
- The age-based formula was accurate to within 10% in only 46% of cases (54/117), with a mean difference of 13.6% +/- 17.5%.
Conclusions:
- Parental estimation of a child's weight is a reliable method, achieving accuracy within 10% in the majority of cases.
- Parental weight estimation demonstrated superior accuracy compared to the tested age-based formula.
- Findings support the utility of parental weight estimation in pediatric clinical settings.
Study Objective:
To assess the ability of parents to estimate their children's weight.
Methods:
We assembled a convenience sample of children, newborn to 5 years, who presented to the ED of a tertiary care hospital. Each child's mother or father was asked to estimate the child's weight as accurately as possible. The triage nurse then weighed the child on an electronic scale. An age-based formula was also used to estimate the child's weight. The parental estimate and the formula-based weight were compared with the weight indicated on the scale.
Results:
One hundred seventeen children were enrolled. The mean age was 26.7 months (range, newborn to 60 months). We analyzed agreement by plotting the percent difference between the weight estimates against the actual weights. The mean +/- SD difference between the parental estimate and the actual weight was 6.8% +/- 9.8%. Parental estimates were accurate to within 10% of the measured weight in 80% of the cases (94 of 117). The mean +/-SD difference between the formula-derived weight and the actual weight was 13.6% +/- 17.5%. The formula was accurate to within 10% of the measured weight in 46% of cases (54 of 117).
Conclusion:
In 80% of cases, the parental estimate of the child's weight was within 10% of the measured weight. The parental estimate was more accurate than the formula-derived weight.