Calidad de la medición del peso corporal durante las primeras etapas del desarrollo infantil: una revisión

Abstract

One of the anthropometric variables that allow predicting possible abnormalities in the development of newborns is body weight. Just as a lower than expected value could increase the risk of the probability of dying during the first year of life, a high birth weight could also be a risk factor for developing obesity. In the case of neonates who are in intermediate therapy, weight is measured daily using a neonatal scale or a baby scale. Since the weight of a newborn is expressed in grams, the relative error can be considerable, which implies the need to ensure the quality of the results provided by these instruments. Based on this, a systematic review of the literature regarding the quality of body weight measurements in newborns was carried out. To this end, a literature search between 2007 and 2019 was performed on 6 databases: Bdigital, Iopscience, Mincit, Minsalud, Repositorio and Scielo. After removing duplicates and evaluating whether the study was really relevant, 19 documents were chosen for analysis. Of the total number of studies reviewed, it was found that Colombia does not currently have a quality assurance program for the measurements reported by baby weighing scales. This, in turn, could be attributed to insufficient national and international regulations for measurements in biomedical equipment; very expensive metrology processes for some regions; and personnel not capable or qualified to carry out metrological activities. Hence the need to carry out new studies of current regulations, both nationally and internationally in terms of quality assurance processes in the measurements of biomedical equipment for weighing newborns. This in order to promote the generation of new mechanisms that focus on improving the provision of health services