Test weighing for term and premature infants is an accurate procedure
- Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Correspondence to:
Paula P Meier
DNSC, RN, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States; paula_meier{at}rush.edu
We write in response to the article by Savenije and Brand,1 in which the investigators conclude that test weighing is too imprecise for the routine clinical assessment of milk intake in newborn infants. This conclusion is contrary to the findings of a series of well controlled studies on test weighing in term and premature infants. Our concerns regarding the conclusions of the study by Savenije and Brand are outlined below.
The investigators’ use of the term “precision” is incorrect. The precision of a measure (also known as its reliability) is the ability of the measurement to be reproduced consistently—that is, its repeatability.2–4 To evaluate precision, the object of interest must be measured more than once under the same circumstances; for instance, repeated measurements of the infants’ weights and/or the milk volume before and after feedings, as has been performed in previous, similar studies.2 However, these investigators did not repeat their measurements of infant …
