{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T01:36:41Z","timestamp":1787017001594,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772064000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":25,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000769","name":"Oxford University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000769","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Glob Health"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Congenital anomalies are among the common health problems faced by children in low- and middle-income countries, contributing substantially to infant mortality rates. Due to limited access to newborn screening programmes in most of the resource-limited settings, many congenital anomalies go undiagnosed and untreated, leading to adverse outcomes. This study aimed to develop and validate a newborn screening tool for congenital anomalies for use in resource-limited settings.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A Delphi approach was used to assemble a group of experts and develop the screening tool. Tool validation was done by applying it to a reasonable number of neonates who were delivered and\/or admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of St. Paul\u2019s Hospital Millennium Medical College. Data were collected using Kobo Collect and then exported to Microsoft Excel and SPSS V.26 for analysis. Frequencies, percentages, mean and SD were used to describe categorical results. The sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool were calculated to assess its validity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 1160 neonates were screened for congenital anomalies, of which 673 (58%) were male. The mean age of the newborns was 26.9\u00b133\u2009hours. Term newborns accounted for 898 (77.4%) of the study population. The prevalence of congenital anomalies in our series was 5.7%, with the most involved body systems being the central nervous system (33.7%), genitourinary (18.5%), gastrointestinal (11%) and musculoskeletal (11%). More than one anomaly was diagnosed in 11 (13.6%) neonates. The sensitivity and specificity of this tool were 86.4% and 97.8%,\u2009respectively. Furthermore, the positive and negative predictive values of the screening tool were 70.4% and 99.2%, respectively.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Congenital anomalies are not rare findings in our hospital. The neonatal screening tool, which was developed through this study, has commendable validity results in addition to being low-cost and easily implementable.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2025-020604","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T14:05:19Z","timestamp":1772114719000},"page":"e020604","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Developing and validating a neonatal screening tool for congenital anomalies to be used in low- and middle-income country settings"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8309-772X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hana Abebe","family":"Gebreselassie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, St Paul\u2019s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1840-708X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kokila","family":"Lakhoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.1","unstructured":"Birth defects surveillance: a manual for program managers. World Health Organization; 2014."},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.2","unstructured":"Aliyu LD . Chapter 11. In: Fatal congenital anomalies in Africa: diagnostic and management challenges. 2021: 197\u2013215."},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.3","unstructured":"Congenital anomalies. World Health Organization; 2023."},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1155\/2021\/2426891","article-title":"Congenital Anomalies and Associated Factors among Newborns in Bishoftu General Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study","volume":"2021","author":"Gedamu","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Environ Public Health"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.2147\/PHMT.S235591","article-title":"Prevalence and Factors Associated with Neonatal Mortality at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northern Ethiopia. A Cross-Sectional Study","volume":"11","author":"Hadgu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pediatric Health Med Ther"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12884-017-1420-7","article-title":"Factors associated with perinatal mortality among public health deliveries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an unmatched case control study","volume":"17","author":"Getiye","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMC Pregnancy Childbirth"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-0500-7-195","article-title":"Pattern and factors associated with congenital anomalies among young infants admitted at Bugando medical centre, Mwanza, Tanzania","volume":"7","author":"Mashuda","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMC Res Notes"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.8","unstructured":"Sub-saharan African network for congenital anomalies: surveillance, prevention and care. UK Research and Innovation; 2022."},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2018.00149","article-title":"Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer","volume":"6","author":"Boateng","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2207","DOI":"10.4236\/psych.2018.98126","article-title":"Applied Psychometrics: Sample Size and Sample Power Considerations in Factor Analysis (EFA, CFA) and SEM in General","volume":"09","author":"Kyriazos","year":"2018","journal-title":"PSYCH"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morgado FFR , Meireles JFF , Neves CM , et al . Scale development: ten main limitations and recommendations to improve future research practices. Psicol Refl Cr\u00edt 2018;30. doi:10.1186\/s41155-016-0057-1","DOI":"10.1186\/s41155-016-0057-1"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.15406\/jpnc.2020.10.00412","article-title":"Proportion of structural congenital anomaly in eastern Africa; A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"10","author":"Kassaw","year":"2020","journal-title":"JPNC"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"857","DOI":"10.1002\/bdra.20838","article-title":"A description of congenital anomalies among infants in Entebbe, Uganda","volume":"91","author":"Ndibazza","year":"2011","journal-title":"Birth Defects Research"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mashuda F , Zuechner A , Chalya PL , et al . Pattern and factors associated with congenital anomalies among young infants admitted at Bugando medical centre, Mwanza, Tanzania. BMC Res Notes 2014;7. doi:10.1186\/1756-0500-7-195","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-0500-7-195"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Obu HA , Chinawa JM , Uleanya ND , et al . Congenital malformations among newborns admitted in the neonatal unit of a tertiary hospital in Enugu, South-East Nigeria - a retrospective study. BMC Res Notes 2012;5. doi:10.1186\/1756-0500-5-177","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-0500-5-177"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"837","DOI":"10.1007\/s10995-023-03591-x","article-title":"Prevalence, Pattern, and Outcome of Congenital Anomalies Admitted to a Neonatal Unit in a Low-Income Country-a Ten-Year Retrospective Study","volume":"27","author":"Anane-Fenin","year":"2023","journal-title":"Matern Child Health J"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/bdr2.2388","article-title":"Population-based prevalence of congenital defects in a routine sentinel site-based surveillance system in the Western Cape, South Africa","volume":"116","author":"Kalk","year":"2024","journal-title":"Birth Defects Res"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.18","unstructured":"Nabea GM , Kamau TM , Kaburu EW . The incidence of congenital anomalies among newborns at Pumwani hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. International Journal of Health Sciences & Research 2017;7."},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1007\/s00268-019-05210-9","article-title":"Burden of Neonatal Surgical Conditions in Northern Ghana","volume":"44","author":"Abdul-Mumin","year":"2020","journal-title":"World J Surg"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.1007\/s12687-020-00463-7","article-title":"Empowering newborn screening programs in African countries through establishment of an international collaborative effort","volume":"11","author":"Therrell","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Community Genet"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10545-007-0660-5"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"986","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpedsurg.2023.01.038","article-title":"Screening methods for congenital anomalies in low and lower-middle income countries: A systematic review","volume":"58","author":"Seyi-Olajide","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Pediatr Surg"},{"key":"2026022606051164000_11.2.e020604.23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zaki U , Qazi SH , Shamim U , et al . Optimal Strategies for Screening Common Birth Defects in Children of Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. Neonatology 2024;1\u201321. doi:10.1159\/000541697","DOI":"10.1159\/000541697"}],"container-title":["BMJ Global Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjgh-2025-020604","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T14:05:24Z","timestamp":1772114724000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/gh.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjgh-2025-020604"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmjgh-2025-020604"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjgh-2025-020604","relation":{},"ISSN":["2059-7908"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2059-7908","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}}}