TITLE:
Updated Gestational Age Specific Birthweight Reference of Hong Kong Chinese Newborns and Comparison with Local and International Growth Charts
AUTHORS:
Irene W. Y. Lok, Meliza C. W. Kong, William W. K. To
KEYWORDS:
Birthweight, Intrauterine Growth, Percentile, Hong Kong
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
6,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Different gestational age specific birthweight reference charts have been
produced for different populations and ethnic groups over different time periods, mostly based on birthweight data.
This study aims to update birthweight references for Hong Kong (HK) Chinese
newborns to provide norms for identification of small
and large for gestational age (SGA and LGA) fetuses, and to verify whether
there are significant differences compared to previously published local
reference charts, as well as to other southern Chinese and international data. Methods: All singleton Chinese
livebirths delivered in United Christian
Hospital from 2012 to 2017 were retrospectively included. The smoothed
birthweight centiles at each gestation were computed. The birthweight centiles
were then compared with other reference charts. Results: A total of 25,508 livebirths between 24 and 42 completed weeks of gestation were enrolled in the final
analysis. The mean birthweights of our cohort were largely similar to previous
studies at each gestation, but the 10th and 90th centile ranges differed significantly, so that the proportion of babies
that would be classified as SGA or LGA varied widely using cut-offs from
different studies. Older local studies tend to under-estimate, while the international growth charts would over-estimate the proportion of SGA babies. Conclusions: Updating fetal growth curve references based on local data is essential to
establish more precise definitions of SGA and LGA babies in clinical
management. The use of international growth charts in our population may not be
appropriate and requires further validation.