The performance of growth charts in well term newborns in screening for hypoglycemia.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the performance of Fenton Growth Chart (FGC) with WHO Growth Chart (WGC) to identify term infants at risk for hypoglycemia.

STUDY

DESIGN

A retrospective study of infants screened for hypoglycemia due to SGA or LGA status determined by FGC and/or WGC.

RESULTS

Nine hundred and seventy infants were included. There was 47.7% agreement between growth charts. A total of 283 (29.2%) newborns developed hypoglycemia. Of those with hypoglycemia, 53.7% were identified by both charts. WGC was more sensitive for all categories of hypoglycemia examined; hypoglycemia (81.3% [CI 76.2-86.7] vs 72.4% [CI 66.8-77.6]), severe hypoglycemia (80.8% [CI 67.5-90.4] vs 71.2% [CI 56.9-82.9]), and hypoglycemia requiring NICU transfer (88.5% [CI 69.9-97.6] vs 65.4% [CI 44.2-82.8). The FGC was more specific for all hypoglycemia categories.

CONCLUSIONS

There was poor agreement between WGC and FGC for hypoglycemia in term infants. The WGC was more sensitive in detecting hypoglycemia and was non-inferior to the FGC.