Strengths and limitations of the Apgar score: A critical appraisal

The Apgar score is widely used for several purposes: to discriminate between infants who require resuscitation at birth and those who do not; to predict outcome; and to evaluate change in the condition of the newly born over the first minutes of life. Using published evidence of its clinical reliability and validity, this article explores whether the Apgar score serves all three measurement purposes equally well. Methodologic guidelines for …