A scoping review of how to measure human fetal movement

Abstract

Objective: The way to measure fetal movement during maternal activity has not been examined. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to clarify how objective and temporal measurement methods of fetal movement have been reported.

Method: We conducted literature searches in PubMed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. The search was performed based on three concepts: fetal, movement, and measurement. Titles and abstracts were screened and eligibility was evaluated by a review of the full text. We extracted information such as the fetal movement measurement method and measurement time.

Results: A total of 1,728 references were identified and 63 of these were selected for inclusion. Accelerometers and ultrasound were mainly used for objective fetal movement measurements. The longest measurement was 6.39 ± 1.2 hours and was made using an accelerometer.

Discussion: Many of the accelerometer measurements were used to evaluate quantitative aspects of fetal movement, while many of the ultrasound measurements were used to evaluate qualitative aspects. It became clear that it is necessary to select measurement methods according to the purpose.

Conclusion: The data suggested that an accelerometer would be useful when a method is needed to measure fetal movement during maternal activity.