A home calendar and recall method of last menstrual period for estimating gestational age in rural Bangladesh: a validation study

Table 1 Characteristics of mothers, infants, and their households in the study sample compared with singletons in the parent trial in rural Bangladesh, 2008–2009

	Parent trial (n = 26,476)	Substudy (n = 353)	P
	Mean ± SD or % (n)
Maternal
Age, years	22.8 ± 5.5	23.1 ± 5.1	0.18
Height, cm	149.6 ± 5.2	149.1 ± 5.2	0.04
BMI, kg/m²	19.3 ± 2.4	19.3 ± 2.4	0.61
BMI <18.5	39.4 (10,369)	40.2 (142)	0.74
MUAC, cm	23.5 ± 2.2	23.7 ± 2.2	0.11
Parity	1.09 ± 1.22	1.05 ± 1.21	0.54
Nulliparous	38.9 (10,297)	38.0 (134)	0.71
Can read or write a Bangla letter	63.1 (16,688)	71.4 (252)	<0.01
Completed >6 years of school	40.9 (10,799)	48.7 (172)	<0.01
Household
Has electricity	21.8 (5757)	14.7 (52)	<0.01
Owns a mobile phone	37.9 (10,019)	35.1 (124)	0.29
Owns a TV	17.4 (4610)	14.5 (51)	0.14
Infant
Male	51.2 (13,033)	52.6 (170)	0.60
Birth weight, kg^a	2.55 ± 0.41	2.62 ± 0.40	0.01
Low birth weight (<2.5 kg)^a	43.4 (8663)	38.9 (108)	0.13
Small-for-gestational age (Alexander)^b,c	63.5 (12,694)	68.4 (190)	0.10
Small-for-gestational age (Intergrowth) ^b,c	51.8 (9376)	54.0 (141)	0.47
Preterm (<37 weeks gestation)^b	19.6 (4991)	9.9 (32)	<0.01

^a n = 19,982 (parent trial) and n = 278 (substudy) for birth weight and LBW including all infants with weight taken ≤72 h from delivery
^bGestational age estimated by date of the last menstrual period to allow comparison between parent trial (without ultrasound) and substudy: preterm n = 25,474 (parent), n = 323 (substudy)
^cSGA is <10th percentile of birth weight for gestational age and infant sex by the Alexander et al. reference [25] or the international intergrowth standards [17]. SGA: n = 18,119 (parent trial), n = 261 (substudy) including all infants with weight taken ≤72 h from delivery

ISSN: 2072-1315