Apgar score

About: Apgar score is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6453 publications have been published within this topic receiving 127057 citations. The topic is also known as: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration.

Birth weight in relation to morbidity and mortality among newborn infants.

Abstract: Background At any given gestational age, infants with low birth weight have relatively high morbidity and mortality. It is not known, however, whether there is a threshold weight below which morbidity and mortality are significantly greater, or whether that threshold varies with gestational age. Methods We analyzed the neonatal outcomes of death, five-minute Apgar score, umbilical-artery blood pH, and morbidity due to prematurity for all singleton infants delivered at Parkland Hospital, Dallas, between January 1, 1988, and August 31, 1996. A distribution of birth weights according to week of gestation at birth was created. Infants in the 26th through 75th percentiles for weight served as the reference group. Data on preterm infants (those born at 24 to 36 weeks of gestation) were analyzed separately from data on infants delivered at term (37 or more weeks of gestation). Results A total of 122,754 women and adolescents delivered singleton live infants without malformations between 24 and 43 weeks of gestat...

Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: a large population based retrospective cohort study

Abstract: Results All teenage groups were associated with increased risks for pre-term delivery, low birth weight and neonatal mortality Infants born to teenage mothers aged 17 or younger had a higher risk for low Apgar score at 5min Further adjustment for weight gain during pregnancy did not change the observed association Restricting the analysis to white married mothers with ageappropriate education level, adequate prenatal care, without smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy yielded similar results Conclusions Teenage pregnancy increases the risk of adverse birth outcomes that is independent of important known confounders This finding challenges the accepted opinion that adverse birth outcome associated with teenage pregnancy is attributable to low socioeconomic status, inadequate prenatal care and inadequate weight gain during pregnancy

Maternal infection and cerebral palsy in infants of normal birth weight.

Abstract: Context. —Exposure to maternal or placental infection is related to risk of preterm birth and, in premature infants, of brain lesions predictive of cerebral palsy (CP). Few studies have investigated whether maternal infection is associated with risk of CP in children of normal birth weight. Objective. —To investigate maternal infection during the admission for delivery as a possible risk factor for CP in infants born weighing 2500 g or more. Design. —Population-based case-control study. Setting. —All hospitals in 4 northern California counties, 1983 through 1985. Participants. —A total of 46 children with disabling spastic CP who had no recognized prenatal brain lesions and 378 randomly selected control children weighing 2500 g or more at birth and surviving to age 3 years. Main Outcome Measures. —Disabling spastic CP and signs of neonatal morbidity. Results. —Maternal fever exceeding 38°C in labor was associated with increased risk of unexplained CP (odds ratio [OR], 9.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7-31.0), as was a clinical diagnosis of chorioamnionitis. One or more indicators of maternal infection were present in 2.9% of control children, 22% of children with CP (OR, 9.3; 95% CI, 3.7-23.0), and 37% of those with the spastic quadriplegic subtype of CP (OR, 19.0; 95% CI, 6.5-56.0). Newborns exposed to maternal infection, both cases and controls, had 5-minute Apgar scores below 6 more often than those unexposed. Among children with CP, those born to infected women were more often hypotensive, needed intubation, had neonatal seizures, and received a clinical diagnosis of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Conclusion. —Intrauterine exposure to maternal infection was associated with a marked increase in risk of CP in infants of normal birth weight. Maternal infection was also linked with low Apgar scores, other evidence of hypertension and need for resuscitation, and neonatal seizures—signs commonly attributed to birth asphyxia.

The continuing value of the Apgar score for the assessment of newborn infants.

Abstract: Background The 10-point Apgar score has been used to assess the condition and prognosis of newborn infants throughout the world for almost 50 years. Some investigators have proposed that measurement of pH in umbilical-artery blood is a more objective method of assessing newborn infants. Methods We carried out a retrospective cohort analysis of 151,891 live-born singleton infants without malformations who were delivered at 26 weeks of gestation or later at an inner-city public hospital between January 1988 and December 1998. Paired Apgar scores and umbilical-artery blood pH values were determined for 145,627 infants to assess which test best predicted neonatal death during the first 28 days after birth. Results For 13,399 infants born before term (at 26 to 36 weeks of gestation), the neonatal mortality rate was 315 per 1000 for infants with five-minute Apgar scores of 0 to 3, as compared with 5 per 1000 for infants with five-minute Apgar scores of 7 to 10. For 132,228 infants born at term (37 weeks of gest...

Validity and reliability of the family APGAR as a test of family function.

Abstract: This paper offers evidence to support the use of the Family APGAR as a reliable, validated, utilitarian instrument to measure a subject's satisfaction with five components of family function. Mean total Family APGAR scores for several population groups are reported along with associated validity and reliability studies. A study from Taiwan supports the use of the Family APGAR in student populations 10 years of age and older. Studies are now under way to examine the use of the Family APGAR to correlate family function satisfaction with utilization of medical facilities, somatization, compliance, and the outcome of health problems.