March 3, 2026Open Access

Differences in prediction of adverse perinatal outcome in term pregnancies by choice of fetal growth reference: A validation study

Key Points

Lindström et al.'s reference shows superior sensitivity for identifying at-risk fetuses, enhancing detection rates.
WHO reference strikes a balance between sensitivity and false positive rates, making it suitable for clinical use.
Comparative analysis across fetal growth references highlights variations in predictive ability for perinatal outcomes.
Choosing the appropriate fetal growth reference can significantly impact clinical decisions during term pregnancies.

Abstract

While all fetal growth references showed comparable predictive ability for adverse perinatal outcomes, they differed substantially in sensitivity and FPR. When the top priority is to identify as many at-risk fetuses as possible, Lindström et al.'s reference seems to be the best choice. However, when the top priority is a balanced sensitivity versus FPR, the WHO reference seems most suitable for clinical practice in this population of term births.

Differences in prediction of adverse perinatal outcome in term pregnancies by choice of fetal growth reference: A validation study

Key Points

Abstract

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