Self-reported health parameters compared with clinician measurements: methods in practice-based research

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Clinical Nutrition
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Health insurance companies utilize self-reported health data for risk assessment.
• Existing research indicates a tendency for underreporting in self-reported health data compared to clinical measurements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare self-reported height, weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, and dietary intake with measures obtained by a registered dietitian (RD).
• To evaluate the accuracy of self-reported health data within an insured population participating in a weight management program.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of data from a larger study on Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) benefits.
• Self-reported measures were collected via a home health risk assessment survey.
• Clinical measurements were taken by an RD during MNT visits.

Main Results:

• High correlations were observed between self-reported and RD-measured height (0.974) and weight (0.986).
• Blood pressure showed weaker correlations, with low agreement scores when categorized.
• Agreement for dietary intake servings was also low.

Conclusions:

• Self-reported height and weight demonstrate higher accuracy than previously reported, potentially suitable for assessing program impact in insured weight management populations.
• Categorical assessment of blood pressure may be more reliable than continuous measures.
• The utility of self-reported food intake for risk assessment warrants reconsideration.