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A COMPARISON OF THE ACCURACY OF THE USE OF LAST MENSTRUAL PERIOD AND SYMPHYSIOFUNDAL HEIGHT FOR GESTATIONAL AGE DETERMINATION IN NIGERIAN WOMEN

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Supervisor: Dr. Ekwempu CC Dr. Musa J
Faculty: OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY
Institution of Training: JOS UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL
Month: 05
Year: 2014

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The accurate determination of gestational age (GA) is necessary for optimal obstetric care, both for diagnostic and interventional purposes. This important obstetric tool is determined traditionally using the last menstrual period (LMP). However, there are other methods of determining the gestational age including the sympyhsiofundal height (SFH) and the early ultrasound scan before the 20th week of gestation which is considered the gold standard. The LMP is fraught with many challenges including woman’s poor recollection of the first day of her last normal menstrual period which is compounded in the developing countries by illiteracy. The availability, cost, properly trained manpower and late presentation of women in a resource-constrained country like Nigeria limits the usefulness of early ultrasound scan. With available evidence suggesting that the SFH may be more accurate than the LMP, this study was conducted in our institution to compare the accuracy of the SFH and LMP using the early ultrasound scan as reference. AIMS: This study used an early ultrasound scan as a reference in comparing the mean percentage accuracy of the LMP and the SFH, to ascertain the more accurate parameter for gestational age assessment. METHOD: Ethical clearance was obtained and 289 consecutive consenting women carrying singleton uncomplicated pregnancies at gestational ages of less than or equals to 20 weeks were recruited for this study in the maternity unit of Jos university teaching hospital between December 2012 and April 2013. Ultrasound scan was used to confirm ii eligibility after which other information including the LMP were collected on a questionnaire. The women returned after 22 weeks of ultrasound recorded gestational age for SFH assessment and some weeks after for a second SFH assessment in a standardised fashion.

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