To revise the growth chart, thorough literature searches were performed to find published and unpublished population-based preterm size at birth (weight, length, and/or head circumference) references. The inclusion criteria, defined a priori, designed to minimize bias by restriction [13 ], were to locate population-based studies of preterm fetal growth, from developed countries with:
a) Corrected gestational ages through fetal ultrasound and/or infant assessment and/or statistical correction;
b) Data percentiles at 24 weeks gestational age or lower;
c) Sample of at least 25,000 babies, with more than 500 infants aged less than 30 weeks;
d) Separate data on females and males;
e) Data available numerically in published form or from authors,
f) Data collected within the past 25 years (1987 to 2012) to account for any secular trends.
a) Corrected gestational ages through fetal ultrasound and/or infant assessment and/or statistical correction;
b) Data percentiles at 24 weeks gestational age or lower;
c) Sample of at least 25,000 babies, with more than 500 infants aged less than 30 weeks;
d) Separate data on females and males;
e) Data available numerically in published form or from authors,
f) Data collected within the past 25 years (1987 to 2012) to account for any secular trends.
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