Development of new demi-span equations from a nationally representative sample of older people to estimate adult height

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Volumn 60, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 550-554

  Hirani, Vasant ^a   Aresu, Maria ^a  

^a ROYAL FREE AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE MEDICAL SCHOOL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

anthropometry; demi span; nutritional status; older people; population survey

Indexed keywords

AGED; AGING; ANTHROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS; ARTICLE; BODY MASS; CALCULATION; DEMI SPAN EQUATION; ELDERLY CARE; FEMALE; HEALTH SURVEY; HEIGHT; HUMAN; KYPHOSIS; MALE; MATHEMATICAL COMPUTING; MEASUREMENT; OSTEOPOROSIS; RELIABILITY; UNITED KINGDOM;

AGED; BIOMETRY; BODY HEIGHT; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES; ENGLAND; FEMALE; FINGERS; HUMANS; MALE; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; REPRODUCIBILITY OF RESULTS; STERNUM;

EID: 84858341728     PISSN: 00028614     EISSN: 15325415     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03832.x     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Allen SC,. The relation between height, arm-span and forced expiratory volume in elderly women. Age Ageing 1989; 18: 113-116.
2. Flegal KM, Graubard BL, Williamson DF, et al. Cause-specific excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA 2007; 298: 2028-2037.
3. Milne JS, Williamson J,. A longitudinal study of kyphosis in older people. Age Ageing 1983; 12: 225-253.
4. Sorkin JD, Muller DC, Andres R,. Longitudinal change in the heights of men and women: Consequential effects on body mass index. Epidemiol Rev 1999; 21: 247-260.
5. Cline MG, Meridith KE, Boyer JT, et al. Decline of height with age in adults in a general population sample: Estimating maximum height and distinguishing birth cohort effects from actual loss of stature with aging. Hum Biol 1989; 61: 415-425.
6. Aggarwal AN, Gupta D, Jindal SK,. Interpreting spirometric data: Impact of substitution of arm-span for standing height in adults from north India. Chest 1999; 115: 557-562.
7. Jalzem PF, Gledhill RB,. Predicting height from arm measurements. J Pediatr Orthop 1993; 13: 761-765.
8. Chumlea WC, Roche AF, Steinbearagh ML,. Estimating stature from knee height for persons 60 to 90 years of age. J Am Geriatr Soc 1985; 33: 116-120.
9. Cockram DB, Baumgartner RN,. Evaluation of the accuracy and reliability of callipers for measuring recumbent knee-height in elderly people. Am J Clin Nutr 1990; 52: 397-400.
10. Bassey EJ,. Demi-span as a measure of skeletal size. Ann Hum Biol 1986; 13: 499-502.
11. Department of Health. The Nutrition of Elderly People. Report on Health and Social Subjects. Report 43. London: HMSO, 1992.
12. Smith WD, Cunningham DA, Paterson DH, et al. Body mass indices and skeletal size in 394 Canadians aged 55-86 years. Ann Hum Biol 1995; 22: 305-314.
13. Bannerman E, Chapman N, Cowan S, et al. Evaluation of the use of knee height to estimate stature in non-institutionalised elderly individuals >75 years old: Implications for the determination of body mass index. Proc Nutr Soc 1997; 55: 249A.
14. Guigoz Y, Lauque S, Vellas BJ,. Identifying the elderly at risk for malnutrition. The Mini Nutritional Assessment. Clin Geriatr Med 2002; 18: 737-757.
15. Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (The MUST) 2006 [on-line]. Available at Accessed September 10, 2010.
16. New NICE Guideline Will Help Tackle the Problem of Malnutrition in the NHS [on-line]. Available at Accessed June 10, 2011.
17. de Lucia E, Lemma F, Tesfaye F, et al. The use of armspan measurement to assess the nutritional status of adults in four Ethiopian ethnic groups. Eur J Clin Nutr 2002; 56: 91-95.
18. Mitchell CO, Lipschitz DA,. Arm length measurement as an alternative to height in nutritional assessment of the elderly. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr 1982; 6: 226-229.
19. Reeves SL, Varakamin C, Henry CJ,. The relationship between arm-span measurement and height with special reference to gender and ethnicity. Eur J Clin Nutr 1996; 50: 398-400.
20. Weinbrenner T, Vioque J, Barber X, et al. Estimation of height and body mass index from demi-span in elderly individuals. Gerontology 2006; 52: 275-281.
21. Hirani V, Mindell J,. A comparison of measured height and demi-span equivalent height in the assessment of body mass index among people aged 65 years and over in England. Age Ageing 2008; 37: 311-317.
22. Craig R, Shelton N, eds. The Health Survey for England 2007: Healthy Lifestyles: Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior. The Health Survey for England Series. London, UK: The Information Centre, 2009 [on-line]. Available at Accessed June 10, 2011.
23. Colhoun H, Prescott-Clarke P, eds. The Health Survey for England 1994. London: HMSO, 1994.
24. Prior G, Primatesta P, eds. The Health Survey for England 2000. London: HMSO, 2000.
25. Craig R., Shelton N, eds. Health Survey for England 2007, Volume 2. Methodology and Documentation. London: Information Centre, 2009.
26. Bland JM, Altman DG,. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1986; 1: 307-310.
27. Lenore JL, Tamara H,. Weight, height and body mass index distributions in geographically and ethnically diverse samples of older persons. Age Ageing 1996; 25: 300-306.
28. Lehmann A, Bassey EJ, Morgan K, et al. Normal values for weight, skeletal size and body mass indices in 890 men and women aged over 65 years. Clin Nutr 1991; 10: 18-22.
29. Cole TJ,. Secular trends in growth. Proc Nutr Soc 2000; 59: 317-324.