title: Development and evaluation of a colour-coded scale for birthweight surveillance in rural Egypt.
abstract: Birthweight surveillance is an important epidemiologic tool, yet it is largely unattainable in locales where most births occur at home attended by traditional midwives. A tempered-steel hand-held scale developed by Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH, Seattle, USA) was adapted for use by Egyptian traditional midwives; it identified newborns weighing less than 2.5 kg by a colour code (yellow versus blue). The scale and reporting system were field tested in a rural Egyptian village. Traditional midwives reported 98% of 299 livebirths attended and 85% were reweighed by Salter scale within 48 hours. Sensitivity of the scale was 100%, specificity 94%. Field conditions are specified for incorporating this method into a surveillance system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson 85724.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Ritenbaugh
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Said
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Galal
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Harrison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D004534:Egypt; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008722:Methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011247:Pregnancy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012424:Rural Population; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity