ISSN 2326-7291
International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology Vol. 1 (2), pp. 025-030, November, 2012. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Validity of self-reported height and weight and factors associated with errors in self-report
Anil Chankaramangalam Mathew1*, Thazhuthekudiyil Sathyan Anithadevi2, Rowther Shamna Safar2, Singanallur Lakshmanan Ravi Shankar1, Moosa Saira Banu1 and Yunsheng Ma3
1Department of Community Medicine, Peelamedu Samanaidu Govindaswamynaidu Institute of Medical Science and Research, Coimbatore-641004, Tamil Nadu, India
2Department of Statistics, St. Thomas College, Pala, Kottayam-686574, Kerala, India
3Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioural Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Received 01 October, 2012; Accepted 05 November, 2012
Abstract
The aim of this investigation is to assess the validity of self-reported height and weight and to examine factors associated with errors in self-report. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, South India, from June 20 to August 20, 2011. The study involved 389 men and 355 women aged 20 years and above. We found that self-reported height and weight were significantly correlated with measured height and weight for men and women [Pearson’s correlation coefficient(r) for men and women: 0.61 and 0.44 in height, 0.91 and 0.85 in weight, 0.76 and 0.64 in body mass index (BMI), respectively]. The prevalence of obesity based on self-reported height and weight were 7.9 and 15.8% for men and women, respectively, which was slightly smaller than that based on measured data 7.7 and 19.7%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of obesity based on self-report for both men and women were 97, 62% in men and 89, 64% in women, respectively. Participants with higher measured BMI significantly underestimated their weight compared to those with smaller BMI. It is also observed that among both men and women with measured BMI above 18.5 kg/m2 were likely to underestimate their weight and BMI below 18.5 kg/m2 were likely to overestimate their weight. However, the presence of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease was not associated with the difference between measured and self-reported height and weight for both men and women. Our findings indicate that self-reported weight has an acceptable agreement with measured data, but self-reported height has only a moderate agreement with measured data. There were no significant differences by presence of chronic disease and educational level between the self-reported and measured height and weight in both men and women.
Key words: Validity, body weight, body height, self-report, obesity.