Application of Weight Estimation Formula in Emergency for Pakistani Pediatric Polulation: Advanced Pediatric Life Support or Luscombe

Abstract

Objectives: To compare original Advanced Pediatric Life Support (APLS) and Luscombe & Owen (LO) formula with weight on scale in Pakistani pediatric population.

Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Pediatric Unit, Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jan to Jun 2018.

Methodology: A total of 1059 patients were subjected to weight scale and different formulas for weight estimation i.e., original APLS and LO. A pre-designed Performa was used to extract the data. SPSS v.25.0 was used as statistical analysis, where t-test was used to measure the significant difference.

Results: The mean age of 1059 children was 4.55 ± 2.96 years with 55.1% males and 44.9% females. A total of 683 (64.4%) children were below or of 5 years of age. The mean scale weight was recorded as 16.71 ± 6.34 kg while for APLS and LO estimation mean was 17.13 ± 5.935 kg and 20.62 ± 8.88 kg respectively. The difference in means of scale weight with APLS and LO estimation was -0.42 kg and -3.92 kg respectively. Independent sample t-test was used for comparison of scale weight with original APLS and LO, p-value of 0.115 and <0.001 were recorded for both respectively, revealing that no difference in means of scale weight and APLS.

Conclusion: Pakistani pediatric population of young age utilizing age-based estimation methods, APLS weight estimation tool is much better than LO estimation.