Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun;13(2):109-113.
doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2023.04.003. Epub 2023 Apr 26.

Weight estimation in two groups of Ghanaian children with chronic diseases using Broselow, Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL-MAC tapes

Rafiuk Cosmos Yakubu  1   2 , Vivian Paintsil  3   4 , Samuel Blay Nguah  1   3
Affiliations

Weight estimation in two groups of Ghanaian children with chronic diseases using Broselow, Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL-MAC tapes

Rafiuk Cosmos Yakubu et al. Afr J Emerg Med. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: The performance of various weight estimation methods in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and heart disease (HD) has not been studied. We aimed to determine and compare the accuracies of the Broselow, Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL-MAC tapes in Ghanaian children with no known chronic diseases (controls), SCD and HD.

Methods: We prospectively recruited 631 children (199 with HD, 209 SCD and 223 controls) from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Their weights were estimated using the Broselow, Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL-MAC tapes. These estimated weights were compared to measured weight using mean percentage error (MPE), the proportion of weight estimates within ±10% (P10) and ±20% (P20) of measured weight. Bland-Altman limits of agreement (LOA) were determined to assess the precision of weight estimation and agreement with measured weight.

Results: The PAWPER XL, Mercy and PAWPER XL-MAC were the most accurate in all groups of children studied. All methods except the Broselow tape (BT), which performed best in the control group, had their best performance among children with SCD with negligible critical error rates (proportion of children with weight estimates > 20% of their actual weight). The P20 in the various groups of children using the BT were 88.36%, 80.21% and 51.10% respectively in the control, SCD and HD groups. The Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL MAC tapes were generally above 90% in all groups.

Discussion: The Mercy, PAWPER XL and PAWPER XL-MAC tapes performed significantly better than the BT in all groups of children studied. These methods of weight estimation performed best in children with SCD with very little critical error.

Keywords: Broselow tape; Heart/cardiac disease; Mercy tape; PAWPER tape; Sickle cell disease; Weight estimation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare concerning this publication.

References

    1. Abdel-Rahman S.M., Ridge A., Kearns G.L. Estimation of body weight in children in the absence of scales: a necessary measurement to insure accurate drug dosing. Arch Dis Child. 2014;99:570–574. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2013-305211. - DOI - PubMed
    1. ALS Group . John Wiley & Sons; 2011. Advanced paediatric life support: the practical approach.
    1. Argall J.A.W. A comparison of two commonly used methods of weight estimation. Arch Dis Child. 2003;88:789–790. doi: 10.1136/adc.88.9.789. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lubitz D.S., Seidel J.S., Chameides L., Luten R.C., Zaritsky A.L., Campbell F.W. A rapid method for estimating weight and resuscitation drug dosages from length in the pediatric age group. Ann Emerg Med. 1988;17:576–581. doi: 10.1016/S0196-0644(88)80396-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cattermole G.N., Leung P.Y.M., Mak P.S.K., Graham C.A., Rainer T.H. Mid-arm circumference can be used to estimate children's weights. Resuscitation. 2010;81:1105–1110. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2010.05.015. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources