Simple tricoloured measuring tapes for identification of low birthweight babies by community health workers

SUMMARY

A total of 446 singleton neonates were subjected to measurements of birthweight, chest circumference (CC) and mid-arm circumference (MAC). A high degree of correlation between birthweight and CC as well as MAC was observed. Chest circumference correlated better with birth-weight than MAC. Further analysis of data showed that CC measurements of ⩽ 30·0 cm and ⩽ 27·5 cm reliably identify neonates < 2500 g and < 2000 g, respectively, with a high degree of specificity and predictive value. The corresponding values for MAC were ⩽ 9·0 cm and ⩽8·5 cm, respectively. Using these inferences, two tricoloured measuring tapes, one each for CC and MAC, are proposed as simple screening tools for use by primary health workers for identifying low-birthweight neonates in the community without resorting to weighing scales.