Original scientific articleEstimated Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index: Implications for Research and Patient Safety
Section snippets
Methods
A prospective, descriptive study of HCP estimates of height and weight in a convenience sample of trauma patients was conducted between December 2004 and February 2005. Only nonpregnant patients aged 16 years or greater were eligible for enrollment. All trauma-code activation patients who were seen in the emergency department from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, were included in the study.
An estimate of height, weight, and assignment to BMI category was obtained from the trauma
Results
One hundred ten patients were enrolled in the study. Seventeen patients were eliminated from analysis because of missing measured height or weight values. These patients either left the emergency department before being measured or had injuries, such as spinal column fractures, that precluded safe measurement with the available equipment. HCPs providing estimates included 8 attending physicians (2 to 21 estimates each), 16 resident physicians (1 to 12 estimates each), and 43 registered nurses
Discussion
It is common for health-care providers to either estimate or obtain family or self-reports of patient height and weight when measured height and weight are inconvenient or not readily obtainable. These estimates are frequently used to calculate nutrition and drug dosage or to assign patients to body habitus groups. This study was conducted as a preliminary step to conducting research on the impact of body habitus on trauma diagnosis and care. It was expected that although HCPs might not be able
Author Contributions
Study conception and design: Hendershot, Robinson, Roland, Vaziri, Rizzo, Fakhry
Acquisition of data: Hendershot, Robinson, Roland, Vaziri, Rizzo
Analysis and interpretation of data: Hendershot, Robinson, Rizzo, Fakhry
Drafting of manuscript: Hendershot, Fakhry
Critical revision: Hendershot, Robinson, Rizzo, Fakhry
Acknowledgment
We wish to express our gratitude to the attending physicians, residents, and nurses who participated by giving their height and weight estimations for this study.
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Competing Interests Declared: None.