Using age on clothes size label to estimate weight in emergency paediatric patients.
OBJECTIVE
To study formulae that estimate children's weight using their actual age.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether using the age on their clothes size label in these formulae can estimate weight when their actual age is unknown.


METHODS
The actual age and age on the clothes labels of 188 children were inserted into formulae that estimate children's weight. These estimates were compared with their actual weight. Bland-Altman plots calculated the precision and accuracy of each of these estimates.


RESULTS
In all formulae, using age on the clothes sizes label provided a more precise estimate than the child's actual age.


CONCLUSIONS
In emergencies where a child's age is unknown, use of the age on their clothes label in weight-estimating formulae yields acceptable weight estimates. Even in situations where a child's age is known, the age on their clothes label may provide a more accurate and precise weight estimate than the actual age.
Department of Anaesthesia, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK. lkotseroglou@doctors.org.uk
Laura D
LD
Elgie
Andrew R
AR
Williams
D000367:Age Factors; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003020:Clothing; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D011356:Product Labeling