[Validity of three predictive methods for estimating height in elderly patients]

In daily clinical practice, we relatively often encounter situations in which it is not possible to measure the height of elderly patients in a conventional way. For these cases, predictive methods have been developed to estimate the height of patients by measuring body segments. The aim of this paper is to determine the best method for estimating the actual height of elderly patients.

A cross-sectional study was carried out with 130 participants over 65 years of age institutionalised in a socio-health centre. Height was calculated using three estimation methods for each study participant and the results were then compared with the actual height of the patients. Correlation coefficient (R), mean absolute error (MAE) and mean square error (MSE) were calculated for each of the three methods.

The method 'height estimation from ulnar measurement' had an R=0.97 with an MAE=0.0386 and an MSE=0.0019, the 'knee-heel height formula of Chumlea' had an R=0.94 with an MAE=0.0300 and an MSE=0.0013 and finally, the 'knee-malleolus formula of Arango and Zamora' had an R=0.9 with an MAE=0.0353 and an MSE=0.0018.

The Chumlea formula is considered the best method for estimating height in elderly patients in whom height cannot be measured conventionally, as it has a very good correlation coefficient (R=0.94) and the lowest deviation of the results.