Validation of accuracy and community acceptance of the BIRTHweigh III scale for categorizing newborn weight in rural India.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the accuracy and acceptability of a handheld scale prototype designed for nonliterate users to classify newborns into three weight categories (>or=2,500 g; 2,000 to 2,499 g; and <2,000 g).


METHODS
Weights of 1,100 newborns in Uttar Pradesh, India, were measured on the test scale and validated against a gold standard. Mothers, family members and community health stakeholders were interviewed to assess the acceptability of the test scale.


RESULTS
The test scale was highly sensitive and specific at classifying newborn weight (normal weight: 95.3 and 96.3%, respectively; low birth weight: 90.4 and 99.2%, respectively; very low birth weight: 91.7 and 98.4%, respectively). It was the overall agreement of the community that the test scale was more practical and easier to interpret than the gold standard.


CONCLUSIONS
The BIRTHweigh III scale accurately identifies low birth weight and very low birth weight newborns to target weight-specific interventions. The scale is extremely practical and useful for resource-poor settings, especially those with low levels of literacy.
Darmstadt
G L
GL
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. gdarmsta@jhsph.edu
Kumar
V
V
Shearer
J C
JC
Misra
R
R
Mohanty
S
S
Baqui
A H
AH
Coffey
P S
PS
Awasthi
S
S
Singh
J V
JV
Santosham
M
M
D001724:Birth Weight; D003150:Community Health Workers; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D012424:Rural Population; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014894:Weights and Measures