Diagnostic agreement about fetal head station between station meter device and vaginal examination

Abstract

Introduction: Considering that evaluation of fetal head station is difficult and determination by different people had no harmony, therefore, this study was performed with aim to evaluate the accuracy of station meter device (a simple device which is named as determining exact fetal head station that had invention certificate and is approved by Medical Equipment Office) and compare with vaginal examination by obstetrics' resident in order to avoid diagnostic errors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2018-2019 on 150 primarous pregnant mothers in the active phase of labor at the maternity ward of Emam Reza and Omol Banin hospitals. At first, the mothers were examined by Obstetrics' resident and fetal head station was recorded in Form A without the knowledge of researcher assistance midwife. Then, the researcher assistance midwife determined the fetal head station with station meter device simultaneously without the knowledge of the result of vaginal examination, and recorded in form B. After data collection, fetal head station was compared in two groups, and correlation and agreement between these two methods were determined by Kapa and Wilcoxon and Spearman tests. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 23). PResults: In different fetal head stations, agreement between two measurement methods by Obstetrics' resident and station meter device with Kappa statistics test was 86% and significant (p <0.001). Conclusion: The station meter device can be used with high reliability to determine the fetal head station and can be used for training the skills of fetal head station determination.

Keywords

• active phase of labor
• fetal head station
• new invention station meter device