Abstract
The purpose of this study was to estimate the height of elderly people for whom it is difficult to make an actual measurement of their height. The length of the forearm and leg below the knee, which are easy to measure, of 47 elderly hospital patients (mean age 71.6 ± 9.0) were measured. The length of the forearm was defined as from proximal part of the point of the elbow to the distal part of processus styloideus ulnae, and the length of the leg below the knee was defined as from the proximal part of the head of fibula to the distal part of the lateral malleolus. The total length of the forearm and leg below the knee was calculated and the correlation coefficient of standing position height and the total length of the forearm and leg below the knee was r=0.87 (p<0.01). The regression expression was height=2.1 × total length of forearm and leg below the knee + 37.0, and the determination coefficient was 0.76. Using this regression expression makes the estimation of heights of many elderly people possible without dependence on ADL ability, and we think it will be of significant use in physical evaluation, such as BMI, which can be applied to nutrition status.
