Predicting stature from knee height in Chinese elderly subjects

The main aim of this study was to validate the use of the Caucasian-based knee height equations for predicting stature of Chinese elderly subjects and to compare the predicted height to those estimated by equations derived from elderly subjects of Chinese origin. The study was performed by a survey by measurement of convenience samples. Twenty-one women and 26 men were recruited to validate the use of the Caucasian-based equations. The Chinese-based predictive equations were derived from 164 women and 89 men. The sample included ambulatory elderly subjects of Chinese origin, 60 years of age or older. These subjects were without spinal curvature and able to stand erect. Measurements were taken for height by a standard hospital scale. Calipers was used to measure knee height while the subject was in the sitting position. The measured stature and that predicted by the Caucasian-based equations were significantly different in Chinese elderly women but not in men. New regression models are being developed for the elderly Chinese population in Hong Kong. The relationship between stature, knee height and age appears to be ethnicity- and gender-dependent. While stature of elderly Chinese men can be estimated by either the Caucasian-based or Chinese-based equation, the regression model developed in the present study will better estimate the stature in elderly Chinese women.