Reliability of length measurements in full-term neonates.

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare the intra- and interexaminer reliability of four techniques for measuring length in full-term newborns and to determine whether the different techniques yield significantly different measurements. DESIGN: A descriptive study, describing the intra- and interexaminer reliability of four length measurement techniques: crown-heel, supine, paper barrier, and Neo-infantometer. The nurses were blind to their own and to the other nurse's measurements. The order of the nurses and the order in which the measurements were obtained was randomized. SETTING: Mothers' rooms in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two healthy full-term newborns. INTERVENTIONS: Length measurements using four different length techniques were obtained twice each by two experienced neonatal nurses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To measure the intra- and interexaminer reliability, the following statistics were calculated: mean absolute differences, standard deviations, technical error of measurement; percentage less than .5 and 1.0 cm, and percentage of error. RESULTS: Intra- and interexaminer differences were significantly larger when examiners used the crown-heel measurement technique. Although the intra- and interexaminer reliability of length measurements obtained with the supine, paper barrier, and Neo-infantometer techniques did not differ significantly, the amount of error in these measurements was large. CONCLUSIONS: Measurements obtained using the crown-heel technique are significantly less reliable than measurements obtained using the supine, paper barrier, or Neo-infantometer techniques.

[Incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in the Lódz province among persons in contact with tuberculotic patients]. / Zachorowania na gruzlice pluc w województwie ludzkim wsród osób pozostajacych w kontakcie z chorym na gruzlice.

The results of an analysis on new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis from contacts with sputum positive tuberculosis are discussed. In subjects with contacts with sputum positive tuberculosis the incidence rates were 16 fold higher in comparison with the general population. In patients that reported contacts with sputum negative tuberculosis the incidence rates were even higher. This contradiction can be explained by the quicker hospitalization in the first group of patients thus terminating contacts.