The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends weight-for-length/height (WFL/H), represented as a Z score for diagnosing acute malnutrition among children aged 0 to 60 months. Under controlled conditions, weight, height and length measurements have high degree of reliability. However, the reliabilit...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2014
|
| _version_ | 1797070826638409728 |
|---|---|
| author | Mwangome, M Berkley, J |
| author_facet | Mwangome, M Berkley, J |
| author_sort | Mwangome, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends weight-for-length/height (WFL/H), represented as a Z score for diagnosing acute malnutrition among children aged 0 to 60 months. Under controlled conditions, weight, height and length measurements have high degree of reliability. However, the reliability when combined into a WFL/H Z score, in all settings is unclear. We conducted a systematic review of published studies assessing the reliability of WFL/Hz on PubMed and Google scholar. Studies were included if they presented reliability scores for the derived index of WFL/Hz, for children under 5 years. Meta-analysis was conducted for a pooled estimate of reliability overall, and for children above and below 24 months old. Twenty six studies on reliability of anthropometry were identified but only three, all community-based studies, reported reliability scores for WFL/Hz. The overall pooled intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) estimate for WFL/Hz among children aged 0 to 60 months was 0.81 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.99). Among children aged less than 24 months the pooled ICC estimate from two studies was 0.72 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.77) while the estimate reported for children above 24 months from one study was 0.97 (95% CI 0.97 to 0.99). Although WFL/Hz is recommended for diagnosis of acute under nutrition among children below 5 years, information on its reliability in all settings is sparse. In community settings, reliability of WFL/Hz is considerably lower than for absolute measures of weight and length/height, especially in younger children. The reliability of WFL/Hz needs further evaluation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:44:33Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:5cb457cf-41ae-41f4-a1f9-bc4a0ba6bab6 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:44:33Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:5cb457cf-41ae-41f4-a1f9-bc4a0ba6bab62022-03-26T17:29:52ZThe reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:5cb457cf-41ae-41f4-a1f9-bc4a0ba6bab6EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2014Mwangome, MBerkley, JThe World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends weight-for-length/height (WFL/H), represented as a Z score for diagnosing acute malnutrition among children aged 0 to 60 months. Under controlled conditions, weight, height and length measurements have high degree of reliability. However, the reliability when combined into a WFL/H Z score, in all settings is unclear. We conducted a systematic review of published studies assessing the reliability of WFL/Hz on PubMed and Google scholar. Studies were included if they presented reliability scores for the derived index of WFL/Hz, for children under 5 years. Meta-analysis was conducted for a pooled estimate of reliability overall, and for children above and below 24 months old. Twenty six studies on reliability of anthropometry were identified but only three, all community-based studies, reported reliability scores for WFL/Hz. The overall pooled intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) estimate for WFL/Hz among children aged 0 to 60 months was 0.81 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.99). Among children aged less than 24 months the pooled ICC estimate from two studies was 0.72 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.77) while the estimate reported for children above 24 months from one study was 0.97 (95% CI 0.97 to 0.99). Although WFL/Hz is recommended for diagnosis of acute under nutrition among children below 5 years, information on its reliability in all settings is sparse. In community settings, reliability of WFL/Hz is considerably lower than for absolute measures of weight and length/height, especially in younger children. The reliability of WFL/Hz needs further evaluation. |
| spellingShingle | Mwangome, M Berkley, J The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children. |
| title | The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children. |
| title_full | The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children. |
| title_fullStr | The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children. |
| title_short | The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children. |
| title_sort | reliability of weight for length height z scores in children |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mwangomem thereliabilityofweightforlengthheightzscoresinchildren AT berkleyj thereliabilityofweightforlengthheightzscoresinchildren AT mwangomem reliabilityofweightforlengthheightzscoresinchildren AT berkleyj reliabilityofweightforlengthheightzscoresinchildren |