title: Identification of pregnancies at increased risk of brachial plexus birth palsy - the construction of a weighted risk score.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Since it is difficult to identify women at increased risk of fetal brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP) during labor and delivery, we aimed to construct and validate a risk score.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective case-control study was undertaken in 2001 and 2006 in an urban context in Malmö, Sweden. A risk score was constructed for all women who had received routine municipal maternal health care at Skåne University Hospital (n = 10 459). The model was validated among all pregnant women with BPBP and controls in Sweden between 2006 and 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The likelihood of BPBP increased as the risk score rose: 3.1% of the women studied had a risk score ≥5, including 32.1% of the BPBP cases, where the risk showed a 38-fold increase, as compared to those with a risk score ≤1 (2/3 of the population).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that it is possible to identify women at increased risk of having a child with BPBP by using variables observable in advance of delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clintec, Karolinska University Hospital , Huddinge , Stockholm .
authors.forename: Pelle G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ajne
authors.forename: Charith
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooray
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Erichs
authors.forename: Saemundur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gudmundsson
authors.forename: Lars B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Dahlin
mesh_terms: D020516:Brachial Plexus Neuropathies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010246:Paralysis, Obstetric / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors