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Reliability of self, parental, and researcher measurements of head circumference.

ABSTRACT: The measurement of head circumference (HC) is widely used in clinical and research settings as a proxy of neural growth. Although it could aid data collection, no studies have explored either the reliability of adult self-measurements or parental measurements of young children. This study therefore aimed to examine whether adult self and parental measurement of HC constitute reliable data.A total of 57 adults (32 male) were asked to measure their HC twice following written instructions (adult self-measurement). These measures were compared to those of a researcher independently measuring the same participant's HC twice. Additionally, mothers of 25 children (17 male) were also asked to measure their child's HC (parental measure), and again this was compared to researcher measurements of the child's HC. The intraclass correlation coefficient between adult self- and researcher measurement was 0.84 and between parent and researcher measurement was 0.99. The technical error of measurement was also acceptable, within the range of a skilled anthropometrist.The high degree of agreement between researcher and adult self-measurement/parental measurement of HC demonstrates that these different assessors produce similarly reliable and reproducible data. This suggests adult self- and parental measurements can reliably be used for data collection to enable valid large-scale developmental and clinical studies of HC.

SUBMITTER: Sullivan JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3904212 | biostudies-other | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Reliability of self, parental, and researcher measurements of head circumference.

Sullivan Jillian C JC Tavassoli Teresa T Armstrong Kimberly K Baron-Cohen Simon S Humphrey Ayla A

Molecular autism 20140110 1

<h4>Background</h4>The measurement of head circumference (HC) is widely used in clinical and research settings as a proxy of neural growth. Although it could aid data collection, no studies have explored either the reliability of adult self-measurements or parental measurements of young children. This study therefore aimed to examine whether adult self and parental measurement of HC constitute reliable data.<h4>Findings</h4>A total of 57 adults (32 male) were asked to measure their HC twice foll ...[more]

PMID: 24410855

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Project description:ObjectivesTo compare agreement between self-reported height, weight and blood pressure measurements submitted to an online contraceptive service with researcher-measured values and document strategies used for self-reporting.DesignAn observational study.SettingAn online sexual health service which provided the combined oral contraceptive pill, free of charge, to users in Southeast London, England.ParticipantsBetween August 2017 and August 2019, 365 participants were recruited.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome, for which the study was powered, was the agreement between self-reported and researcher-measured body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure measurements, compared using kappa coefficients. Secondary measures of agreement included sensitivity, specificity and Bland Altman plots. The study also describes strategies used for self-reporting and classifies their clinical appropriateness.Results327 participants fully described their process of blood pressure measurement with 296 (90.5%) classified as clinically appropriate. Agreement between self-reported and researcher-measured BMI was substantial (0.72 (95% CI 0.42 to 1.0)), but poor for blood pressure (0.06 (95% CI -0.11 to 0.23)). Self-reported height and weight readings identified 80.0% (95% CI 28.4 to 99.5) of individuals with a researcher-measured high BMI (≥than 35 kg/m2) and 9.1% (95% CI 0.23 to 41.3) of participants with a researcher-measured high blood pressure (≥140/90 mm Hg).ConclusionIn this study, while self-reported BMI was found to have substantial agreement with researcher-measured BMI, self-reported blood pressure was shown to have poor agreement with researcher-measured blood pressure. This may be due to the inherent variability of blood pressure, overdiagnosis of hypertension by researchers due to 'white coat syndrome' or inaccurate self-reporting. Strategies to improve self-reporting of blood pressure for remote prescription of the combined pill are needed.

Project description:BackgroundAccurate head circumference (HC) measurement is essential when assessing neonates and infants. Tape measure HC measurements are prone to errors, particularly when performed by parents/guardians, due to individual differences in head shape, hair style and texture, subject cooperation, and examiner techniques, including tape measure placement and tautness. There is, therefore, the need for a more reliable method.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability, and consistency of HC app measurement compared to the current standard of practice, serving as a proof-of-concept for use by health care professionals.MethodsWe recruited infants attending the neurosurgery clinic, and parents/guardians were approached and consented to participate in the study. Along with the standard head circumference measurement, measurements were taken with the head circumference app (HC app) developed in-house, and we also collected baseline medical history and characteristics. For the statistical analysis, we used RStudio (version 4.1.1). In summary, we analyzed covariance and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to compare the measurement's within-rater and interrater reliability. The F test was used to analyze the variance between measurements and the Bland-Altman agreement, t test, and correlation coefficients were used to compare the tape measurement to the measures taken by the HC app. We also used nonvalidated questionnaires to explore parental or guardians' experiences, assess their views on app utility, and collect feedback.ResultsThe total number of recruited patients was 37. Comparison between the app measurements and the measurements with a tape measure showed poor reliability (ICC=0.177) and wide within-app variations (ICC=0.341). The agreement between the measurements done by parents/guardians and the tape measurements done by the researcher was good (ICC=0.901). Parental/guardian feedback was overall very positive, with most of the parents/guardians reporting that the app was easy to use (n=31, 84%) and that they are happy to use the app in an unsupervised setting, provided that they are assured of the measurement quality.ConclusionsWe developed this project as a proof-of-concept study, and as such, the app has shown great potential to be used both in a clinical setting and by parents/guardians in their own homes.

Project description:BackgroundLarge-scale longitudinal and multi-centre studies are used to explore neuroimaging markers of normal ageing, and neurodegenerative and mental health disorders. Longitudinal changes in brain structure are typically small, therefore the reliability of automated techniques is crucial. Determining the effects of different factors on reliability allows investigators to control those adversely affecting reliability, calculate statistical power, or even avoid particular brain measures with low reliability. This study examined the impact of several image acquisition and processing factors and documented the test-retest reliability of structural MRI measurements.MethodsIn Phase I, 20 healthy adults (11 females; aged 20-30 years) were scanned on two occasions three weeks apart on the same scanner using the ADNI-3 protocol. On each occasion, individuals were scanned twice (repetition), after re-entering the scanner (reposition) and after tilting their head forward. At one year follow-up, nine returning individuals and 11 new volunteers were recruited for Phase II (11 females; aged 22-31 years). Scans were acquired on two different scanners using the ADNI-2 and ADNI-3 protocols. Structural images were processed using FreeSurfer (v5.3.0, 6.0.0 and 7.1.0) to provide subcortical and cortical volume, cortical surface area and thickness measurements. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to estimate test-retest reliability. We examined the effect of repetition, reposition, head tilt, time between scans, MRI sequence and scanner on reliability of structural brain measurements. Mean percentage differences were also calculated in supplementary analyses.ResultsUsing the FreeSurfer v7.1.0 longitudinal pipeline, we observed high reliability for subcortical and cortical volumes, and cortical surface areas at repetition, reposition, three weeks and one year (mean ICCs>0.97). Cortical thickness reliability was lower (mean ICCs>0.82). Head tilt had the greatest adverse impact on ICC estimates, for example reducing mean right cortical thickness to ICC=0.74. In contrast, changes in ADNI sequence or MRI scanner had a minimal effect. We observed an increase in reliability for updated FreeSurfer versions, with the longitudinal pipeline consistently having a higher reliability than the cross-sectional pipeline.DiscussionLongitudinal studies should monitor or control head tilt to maximise reliability. We provided the ICC estimates and mean percentage differences for all FreeSurfer brain regions, which may inform power analyses for clinical studies and have implications for the design of future longitudinal studies.

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Reliability of self, parental, and researcher measurements of head circumference.

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Reliability of self, parental, and researcher measurements of head circumference.

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