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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background: Accurate determination of gestational age by way of ultrasound is challenging in resource-limited settings like Burkina Faso, leading to the use of alternative methods, though their accuracy and agreement remain poorly established. This practice leads to inadequate risk assessment during pregnancy and failure to identify preterm birth, potentially contributing to high neonatal mortality rates. The purpose of this study was to determine the agreement among alternative methods for gestational age estimation and the Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement (AMANHI) method in Burkina Faso. Methods: Data were obtained from a prospective cohort study involving pregnant women in the second or third trimester in Bobo-Dioulasso to evaluate the agreement of last menstrual period (LMP), symphysis-fundal height (SFH), Dubowitz, Hadlock, and AMAHNI methods to estimate gestational age. The degree of agreement was assessed using the Bland–Altman method and intraclass correlation coefficients. The AMANHI method, validated for late pregnancy, was used as the reference standard. Results: A total of 768 pregnant women were included in the analysis. Plots showed a lack of agreement between the AMANHI method and all other methods, with 95% limits of agreement ranging from −7.6 to +9.8 weeks. Additionally, the incidence of preterm birth was consistently higher when assessed using the alternative methods compared with the AMANHI method. Conclusions: The clinical methods (SFH, LMP, Dubowitz) disagree with the ultrasound methods (AMANHI, Hadlock), but the ultrasound methods produce more similar results. The routine application of other methods is likely to result in an overestimation of preterm birth incidence compared with AMANHI. These findings highlight the urgent need to improve access to obstetric ultrasound and to provide comprehensive training in the application of the AMANHI method for accurate late-term gestational age estimation in Burkina Faso.

Details

Title
Comparison of Gestational Age Assessment Methods in the Second and Third Trimesters: Evaluating Alternative Approaches Against Ultrasound in Urban Burkina Faso
Author
Cheick Ahmed Ouattara 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Anderson Compaoré 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lionel Olivier Ouédraogo 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ouédraogo, Moctar 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ouattara, Hermann 3 ; Coulibaly, Moussa 3 ; Deng, Lishi 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nikiéma, Zakari 5 ; Hanley-Cook, Giles T 4 ; Argaw, Alemayehu 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Huybregts, Lieven 6 ; Kokeb Tesfamariam Hadush 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Lachat, Carl 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Toe, Laeticia Celine 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Dailey-Chwalibóg, Trenton 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Agence de Formation de Recherche et d’Expertise en Santé pour l’Afrique (AFRICSanté), Bobo-Dioulasso 01 BP 298, Burkina Faso; [email protected] (C.A.O.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (M.O.) 
 Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; [email protected] (L.O.O.); [email protected] (L.D.); [email protected] (G.T.H.-C.); [email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (L.H.); [email protected] (K.T.H.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (L.C.T.); Centre Muraz, Bobo-Dioulasso 01 BP 390, Burkina Faso 
 Centre Médical avec Antenne Chirurgicale de Dô, Bobo-Dioulasso 01 BP 1508, Burkina Faso; [email protected] (H.O.); [email protected] (M.C.) 
 Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; [email protected] (L.O.O.); [email protected] (L.D.); [email protected] (G.T.H.-C.); [email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (L.H.); [email protected] (K.T.H.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (L.C.T.) 
 Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Santé, Université Polytechnique de Bobo-Dioulasso, Bobo-Dioulasso 01 BP 1091, Burkina Faso; [email protected] 
 Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; [email protected] (L.O.O.); [email protected] (L.D.); [email protected] (G.T.H.-C.); [email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (L.H.); [email protected] (K.T.H.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (L.C.T.); Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, Department of Food and Nutrition Policy, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC 20005, USA 
 Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; [email protected] (L.O.O.); [email protected] (L.D.); [email protected] (G.T.H.-C.); [email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (L.H.); [email protected] (K.T.H.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (L.C.T.); Unité Nutrition et Maladies Métaboliques, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Bobo-Dioulasso 01 BP 545, Burkina Faso 
 Agence de Formation de Recherche et d’Expertise en Santé pour l’Afrique (AFRICSanté), Bobo-Dioulasso 01 BP 298, Burkina Faso; [email protected] (C.A.O.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (M.O.); Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; [email protected] (L.O.O.); [email protected] (L.D.); [email protected] (G.T.H.-C.); [email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (L.H.); [email protected] (K.T.H.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (L.C.T.) 
First page
1421
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20770383
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3176358287
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.