Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 1/2005

Open Access 01-12-2005 | Research article

Customized birth weight for gestational age standards: Perinatal mortality patterns are consistent with separate standards for males and females but not for blacks and whites

Authors: K S Joseph, Russell Wilkins, Linda Dodds, Victoria M Allen, Arne Ohlsson, Sylvie Marcoux, Robert Liston

Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Issue 1/2005

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Some currently available birth weight for gestational age standards are customized but others are not. We carried out a study to provide empirical justification for customizing such standards by sex and for whites and blacks in the United States.

Methods

We studied all male and female singleton live births and stillbirths (22 or more weeks of gestation; 500 g birth weight or over) in the United States in 1997 and 1998. White and black singleton live births and stillbirths were also examined. Qualitative congruence between gestational age-specific growth restriction and perinatal mortality rates was used as the criterion for identifying the preferred standard.

Results

The fetuses at risk approach showed that males had higher perinatal mortality rates at all gestational ages compared with females. Gestational age-specific growth restriction rates based on a sex-specific standard were qualitatively consistent with gestational age-specific perinatal mortality rates among males and females. However, growth restriction patterns among males and females based on a unisex standard could not be reconciled with perinatal mortality patterns. Use of a single standard for whites and blacks resulted in gestational age-specific growth restriction rates that were qualitatively congruent with patterns of perinatal mortality, while use of separate race-specific standards led to growth restriction patterns that were incompatible with patterns of perinatal mortality.

Conclusion

Qualitative congruence between growth restriction and perinatal mortality patterns provides an outcome-based justification for sex-specific birth weight for gestational age standards but not for the available race-specific standards for blacks and whites in the United States.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Williams R, Creasy R, Cunningham G, Hawes W, Norris F, Tashiro M: Fetal growth and perinatal viability in California. Obstet Gynecol. 1982, 59: 624-632.PubMed
2.
Yerushalmy J: The relationship of parents' cigarette smoking to outcome of pregnancy – implications as to the problem of inferring causation from observed associations. Am J Epidemiol. 1971, 93: 443-56.PubMed
3.
Meyer MB, Comstock GW: Maternal cigarette smoking and perinatal mortality. Am J Epidemiol. 1972, 96: 1-10.PubMed
4.
Wilcox AJ, Russell IT: Why small black infants have lower mortality than small white infants: the case for population-specific standards for birth weight. J Pediatr. 1990, 116: 7-10.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Wilcox AJ, Russell IT: Birthweight and perinatal mortality: III. Towards a new method of analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 1986, 15: 188-96.CrossRefPubMed
6.
7.
English PB, Eskenazi B: Reinterpreting the effects of maternal smoking on infant birthweight and perinatal mortality: a multivariate approach to birth weight standardization. Int J Epidemiol. 1992, 21: 1097-1105.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Wilcox AJ: Birth weight and perinatal mortality: the effect of maternal smoking. Am J Epidemiol. 1993, 137: 1098-1104.PubMed
9.
Buekens P, Wilcox A: Why do small twins have a lower mortality than small singletons?. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1993, 168: 937-41.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Wilcox AJ, Skjœrven R, Buekens P, Kiely J: Birth weight and perinatal mortality: A comparison of the United States and Norway. JAMA. 1995, 272: 709-11. 10.1001/jama.273.9.709.CrossRef
11.
Hertz-Picciotto I, Din-Dzietham R: Comparisons of infant mortality using a percentile-based method of standardization for birthweight or gestational age. Epidemiol. 1998, 9: 61-7. 10.1097/00001648-199801000-00009.CrossRef
12.
Lie RT: Invited commentary: Intersecting perinatal mortality curves by gestational age – are appearances deceiving?. Am J Epidemiol. 2000, 152: 1117-9. 10.1093/aje/152.12.1117.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Cheung YB, Yip P, Karlberg J: Mortality of twins and singletons by gestational age: a varying-coefficient approach. Am J Epidemiol. 2000, 152: 1107-16. 10.1093/aje/152.12.1107.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Wilcox AJ: On the importance – and the unimportance – of birthweight. Int J Epidemiol. 2001, 30: 1233-41. 10.1093/ije/30.6.1233.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Joseph KS, Liu S, Demissie K, Wen SW, Platt RW, Ananth CV, Dzakpasu S, Sauve R, Allen AC, Kramer MS, for the Fetal and Infant Health Study Group of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System: A parsimonious explanation for intersecting perinatal mortality curves: understanding the effect of plurality and of parity. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2003, 3: 3-10.1186/1471-2393-3-3.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
16.
Joseph KS, Allen AC, Lutfi S, Murphy-Kaulbeck L, Vincer MJ, Wood E: Does the risk of cerebral palsy increase or decrease with increasing gestational age?. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2003, 3: 8-10.1186/1471-2393-3-8.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
17.
Joseph KS, Demissie K, Platt RW, Ananth CV, McCarthy BJ, Kramer MS: A parsimonious explanation for intersecting perinatal mortality curves: understanding the effects of race and of maternal smoking. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2004, 4: 7-10.1186/1471-2393-4-7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
18.
Joseph KS: Incidence based measures of birth, growth restriction and death can free perinatal epidemiology from erroneous concepts of risk. J Clin Epidemiol. 2004, 57: 889-97. 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2003.11.018.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Joseph KS: Theory of obstetrics: the fetuses at risk approach as a causal paradigm. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2004, 26: 953-6.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Platt RW, Joseph KS, Ananth CV, Grondines J, Abrahamowicz M, Kramer MS: A proportional hazards model with time-dependent covariates and time-varying effects for analysis of fetal and infant death. Am J Epidemiol. 2004, 160: 199-206. 10.1093/aje/kwh201.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Gruenwald P: Growth of the human fetus. I. Normal growth and its variation. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1966, 94: 1112-9.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Usher R, McLean F: Intrauterine growth of live-born Caucasian infants at sea-level: standards obtained from measurements in 7 dimensions of infants born between 25 and 44 weeks gestation. J Pediatr. 1969, 74: 901-10.CrossRefPubMed
23.
David R: Population-based intrauterine growth curves from computerized birth certificates. South Med J. 1983, 76: 1401-6.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Ananth CV, Vintzileos AM, Shen-Schwarz S, Smulian JC, Lai Y-L: Standards of birth weight in twin gestations stratified by placental chorionicity. Obstet Gynecol. 1998, 91: 917-24. 10.1016/S0029-7844(98)00052-0.PubMed
25.
Brenner W, Edelman D, Hendricks C: A standard of fetal growth for the United States of America. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1976, 126: 555-64.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Lawrence C, Fryer J, Karlberg J, Niklasson A, Ericson A: Modeling of reference values for size at birth. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1989, 350 (suppl): 55-69.CrossRef
27.
Gardosi J, Chang A, Kalyan B, Sahota D, Symonds E: Customized antenatal growth charts. Lancet. 1992, 339: 283-7. 10.1016/0140-6736(92)91342-6.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Amini S, Catalano P, Hirsch V, Mann L: An analysis of birth weight by gestational age using a computerized perinatal data base, 1975–1992. Obstet Gynecol. 1994, 83: 342-52.PubMed
29.
Zhang J, Bowes W: Birth-weight-for-gestational-age patterns by race, sex, and parity in the United states population. Obstet Gynecol. 1995, 86: 200-208. 10.1016/0029-7844(95)00142-E.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Arbuckle T, Wilkins R, Sherman G: Birth weight percentiles by gestational age in Canada. Obstet Gynecol. 1993, 81: 39-48.PubMed
31.
Maršál K, Persson P-H, Larsen T, Lilja H, Selbing A, Sultan B: Intrauterine growth curves based on ultrasonically estimated foetal weights. Acta Paediatr. 1996, 85: 843-8.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Beeby PJ, Bhutap T, Taylor LK: New South Wales population-based birthweight percentile charts. J Paediatr Child Health. 1996, 32: 512-8.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Kramer MS, Platt RW, Wen SW, Joseph KS, Allen A, Abrahamowicz M, Blondel B, Breart G, for the Fetal/Infant Health Study Group of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System: A new and improved population-based Canadian reference for birth weight for gestational age. Pediatrics. 2001, 108: E35-10.1542/peds.108.2.e35.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Källén B: A birth weight for gestational age standard based on data in the Swedish Medical Birth Registry, 1985–1989. Eur J Epidemiol. 1995, 11: 601-6.CrossRefPubMed
35.
World Health Organization: Physical status: the use and interpretation of anthropometry. Report of a WHO expert committee. Technical Report Series No. 854. 1995, Geneva: WHO
36.
Lubchenco L, Hansman C, Dressler M, Boyd E: Intrauterine growth as estimated from liveborn birth weight data at 24 to 42 weeks of gestation. Pediatrics. 1963, 32: 793-800.PubMed
37.
Thomson A, Billewicz W, Hytten F: The assessment of fetal growth. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Common. 1968, 75: 903-16.CrossRef
38.
Alexander G, Himes J, Kaufman R, Mor J, Kogan M: A United States national reference for fetal growth. Obstet Gynecol. 1996, 87: 163-8. 10.1016/0029-7844(95)00386-X.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Taffel S, Johnson D, Heuse R: A method of imputing length of gestation on birth certificates. Vital Health Stat 2. 1982, 93: 1-11.PubMed
40.
MacDorman MF, Atkinson JO: Infant mortality statistics from the linked birth/infant death data set – 1995 period data. Monthly Vital Statistics Report. 1998, Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 46 (Suppl 2):
41.
Yudkin PL, Wood L, Redman CWG: Risk of unexplained stillbirth at different gestational ages. Lancet. 1987, 1: 1192-4.PubMed
42.
Ferguson R, Myers SA: Population study of the risk of fetal death and its relationship to birth weight, gestational age, and race. Am J Perinatol. 1994, 11: 267-72.CrossRefPubMed
43.
Hilder L, Costeloe K, Thilaganathan B: Prolonged pregnancy: evaluating gestation-specific risks of fetal and infant mortality. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1998, 105: 169-73.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Kramer MS, Liu S, Luo Z, Yuan H, Platt RW, Joseph KS: Analysis of perinatal mortality and its components: time for a change?. Am J Epidemiol. 2002, 156: 493-7. 10.1093/aje/kwf077.CrossRefPubMed
45.
Caughey AB, Stotland NE, Escobar GJ: What is the best measure of maternal complications of term pregnancy: ongoing pregnancies or pregnancies delivered?. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003, 189: 1047-52. 10.1067/S0002-9378(03)00897-4.CrossRefPubMed
46.
Caughey AB, Musci TJ: Complications of term pregnancies beyond 37 weeks of gestation. Obstet Gynecol. 2004, 103: 57-62.CrossRefPubMed
47.
Battaglia F, Frazier T, Hellegers A: Birth weight, gestational age, and pregnancy outcome, with special reference to high birth weight-low gestational age infant. Pediatrics. 1966, 37: 417-22.PubMed
48.
Platt RW, Abrahamowicz M, Kramer MS, Joseph KS, Mery L, Blondel B, Breart G, Wen SW: Detecting and eliminating erroneous gestational ages: a normal mixture model. Stat Med. 2001, 20: 3491-503. 10.1002/sim.1095.CrossRefPubMed
49.
Hadlock FP, Harrist RB, Carpenter RJ, Deter RL, Park SK: Sonographic estimation of fetal weight. Radiology. 1984, 150: 535-40.CrossRefPubMed
50.
Nahum GG, Stanislaw H: Ultrasonographic prediction of term birth weight: how accurate is it?. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003, 188: 566-74. 10.1067/mob.2003.155.CrossRefPubMed
51.
Metadata
Title
Customized birth weight for gestational age standards: Perinatal mortality patterns are consistent with separate standards for males and females but not for blacks and whites
Authors
K S Joseph
Russell Wilkins
Linda Dodds
Victoria M Allen
Arne Ohlsson
Sylvie Marcoux
Robert Liston
Publication date
01-12-2005
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth / Issue 1/2005
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2393
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-5-3

Other articles of this Issue 1/2005

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 1/2005 Go to the issue

Research article

SSRI'S and other antidepressant use during pregnancy and potential neonatal adverse effects: Impact of a public health advisory and subsequent reports in the news media

Research article

Pregnancy-induced hypertension and infant growth at 28 and 42 days postpartum

Research article

Antenatal screening for Group B Streptococcus: A diagnostic cohort study

Research article

Prevalence of pre- and postpartum depression in Jamaican women

Study protocol

Antiplatelet agents for prevention of pre-eclampsia and its consequences: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

Research article

Determination of Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha concentrations in Iranian-Khorasanian patients with preeclampsia