Krishnan et al reported a neonatal physical maturity score. This is suitable for low- or middle-income countries. The authors are from Imperial College London, Government Medical College Kozhikode, Bangalore Medical College, and Kamataka Institute of Medical Sciences.
Patient selection: neonate
Parameters:
(1) skin over back
(2) creases of feet
(3) breast bed
(4) nipple color
(5) external genitalia appearance and color
(6) nails
Parameter
Finding
Points
skin of back
lanugo abundant
1
bald
0
creases on feet
absent or superficial
2
deep
0
breast bud
< 5 mm
2
>= 5 mm
0
nipple color
pink or light brown
1
dark brown
0
external genitalia
pink or light brown
2
dark brown
0
nails
short
1
long or overgrown
0
total score =
= SUM(points for all of the parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 9
• A score >= 4 indicates late preterm.
• A score < 4 indicates > 37 weeks gestation.
Performance:
• The sensitivity was 0.66 and specificity 0.80.
• The area under the ROC curve was 0.83 for the training and 0.73 for the validation cohorts.
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