J Korean Acad Nurs.  2002 Apr;32(2):176-185.

Assessment of Gestational Age using New Ballard Examination in High-Risk Infants

• Ahn YM
• Lee SM

Abstract

PURPOSE
Knowing the accurate GA is critical in nursing care of high-risk newborns. A descriptive study was performed to examine the reliability and clinical applicability of the new Ballard examination (NBE) in high-risk infants. METHOD: A NBE was performed to measure GA by assessing the neuromuscular and physical maturity in the course of physical examination of a convenient sample of 50 high-risk infants.
RESULTS
1) There was a highly correlation between both the GA by LMP (GA-LMP) and GA by NBE (GA-NBE) (r = .894, p = .000) 2) There was a greater positive relationship in neuromuscular maturity than physical maturity in the GA-NBE of the high-risk newborn (r = .657 versus r = .915, p<. 05). 3) The high-risk infants were thoes with congenital anomalies, prematurity, and RDS(Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Male infants showed a higher neuromuscular maturity, compared to female infants. 4) There was a positive correlation between neuromuscular, physical, total maturity, GA-LMP and GA-NBE in the birth weight, 1 minute Apgar score.
CONCLUSION
The study supports the reliability an clinical relevance of NBE in assessment of the accurate GA in high-risk infants.

Keyword

High-risk newborn; Maturity; Ballard examination; Gestational age

MeSH Terms

Apgar Score
Birth Weight
Female
Gestational Age*
Humans
Infant*
Infant, Newborn
Male
Nursing Care
Physical Examination