Anthropometric orofacial measures of newborns and their relationship with sex, weight and height.
Silvia Márcia Andrade Campanha, Roberta Lopes de Castro Martinelli, Durval Batista Palhares
PMID 35019062WHAT IT FOUND
Newborn face measurements did not differ by sex or height, but the distance from the outer eye corner to the mouth corners was longer in heavier babies.
These are reference values, not a diagnostic test.
Key findings
01Orofacial measurements did not differ between female and male newborns.
02Orofacial measurements did not differ between newborns above or below the median height.
03The distance from the outer corner of the eye to the mouth corners was longer in newborns above the median weight.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was done in one region of Brazil, and the authors said the values may not apply to newborns from other regions. It included only brown and white newborns and excluded indigenous and quilombola newborns. It excluded many clinical conditions, including preterm birth, craniofacial anomalies, neurological diseases, visible genetic syndromes, unstable conditions, artificial feeding, and maternal HIV, so the findings do not describe those groups. The sex groups were not balanced, with more girls than boys, which the authors noted. The authors noted that there are few other studies in this population, making comparison difficult. The study measured newborns only in the first days of life, so it does not show how the measurements change as the child grows.
Declared interests
This study was partially funded by CAPES, Brazil, under Finance Code 001. The paper does not report other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these measurements as a diagnostic test for craniofacial anomalies. The study measured selected newborns and compared average measurements with sex, weight and height. It did not show that any measurement identifies a disorder.