title: Maternal recall of birthweight and birth size in Entebbe, Uganda.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the reliability of maternally recalled birthweight and size in Entebbe, Uganda.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population comprised 404 mothers, who were participants in the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study (EMaBS). Mothers were recruited to EMaBS during antenatal care, maternal characteristics were recorded during pregnancy, and birthweight was recorded at delivery. Four to seven years after delivery, mothers were asked to recall the child's birthweight and size. Their responses were compared with the birthweight recorded in the EMaBS database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 404 interviewed mothers, 303 (75%) were able to give an estimate of birthweight and for 265 of these EMaBS data on recorded birthweights were available. Women who were educated and whose children had low birth order were more likely to be able to give an estimate: 37 (14%) recalled the exact recorded birthweight; a further 52 (20%) were accurate to within 0.1 kg of the recorded weight. On average, mothers overestimated birthweight by 0.06 kg (95% CI: 0.00-0.13 kg, P = 0.04). Recalled and recorded birthweights showed moderate agreement with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.64. Four hundered mothers gave an estimate of birth size: the sensitivity and specificity of recalled birth size for classifying low birthweight were 76% (95% CI: 50-93%) and 70% (95% CI: 65-75%), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mothers' recall of birthweight was not precise but in absence of other data, recall of birthweight and size may have some value in epidemiological studies in these settings.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK  Entebbe Hospital, Entebbe, Uganda.
authors.forename: Swaib A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lule
authors.forename: Emily L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Juliet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ndibazza
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nampijja
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Muhangi
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Akello
authors.forename: Muhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kakande
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kizindo
authors.forename: Alison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Elliott
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011939:Mental Recall; D009035:Mothers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology