What is the best way to measure head circumference?

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  What is the best way to measure head circumference?

• IRAS ID

  195241

• Contact name

  Charlotte Wright

• Sponsor organisation

  NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 7 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  We want to find out the best way to measure head size in babies. We use one method in the UK and the US, but the WHO recommend a different tighter method using a special metal measuring tape and the method used may affect how big a baby’s head appears to be. We also want to find out how closely a baby’s head size relates to their parents’ head size and generally how well measurement of adult heads fit the charts they are plotted on. We will do this by asking parents of 30 children aged under 2 years attending the outpatient department and of 30 children aged under 2 years admitted to the ward to let us measure their babies’ and their own heads using both methods. We will then compare how much the results differ when these two methods are both used in the same child and how closely the parents and the child measures relate. We expect that we won’t be able to measure so many fathers’ heads as mothers’, so we will also ask up to 50 adult members of staff to let us measure their heads to allow us to see how well adult male and female measurement fit to the range shown on adult head circumference charts.

• REC name

  West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/WM/0474

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Dec 2015

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion