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Measuring body mass index (BMI) in nursing home residents: the usefulness of measurement of arm span.

Nygaard HA

NKS Olaviken Hospital for Old Age Psychiatry and Section for Geriatric Medicine, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Norway. harald.nygaard@isf.uib.no <harald.nygaard@isf.uib.no>

OBJECTIVE: To study whether arm span can be used as substitute for measurement of height in nursing home patients for calculating body mass index (BMI). DESIGN: Explanatory observational study. SETTING: Assessment of 35 nursing home residents admitted to long-term stay in a nursing home. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlation between measured height and arm span and of BMI based on both measures. RESULTS: Measured height and arm span, and BMI calculated from either measure were significantly correlated, r(s)=0.75, p <0.001 and r(s)=0.89, p <0.001, respectively. The ratios of measured height and arm span and between BMIs based on height or arm span are close to 1, but the dispersion is rather large. CONCLUSION: Arm span is a reliable substitute for measurement of height in nursing home patients. In persons with severe height reduction, arm-span-based BMI is probably more accurate than conventional height-based BMI.

Published 25 February 2008 in Scand J Prim Health Care, 26(1): 46-9.
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