title: [Measurement or estimation of body length in older nursing home patients].
abstract: Measurement of body height of elderly persons can be difficult or impossible because of inability to stand or inability to stand in the right position. In seventy-five percent of elderly patients of a nursing home (n = 281) height could not be measured. Measurement of the height in a recumbent position was possible in fifty-five percent of the patients and measurement of arm span, used as a substitute for height, in sixty percent. Knee height could be measured in 95% of the patients; height can however roughly be estimated from knee height. Indices reflecting nutritional status, which require height as a variable (such as Quetelet Index), are of limited use for elderly patients in nursing homes.
authors.affiliation: Verpleeghuisartsen Verpleeghuis De Bieslandhof, Delft.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berkhout
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cools
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mulder
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D001827:Body Height; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011187:Posture
vernacular_title: Het meten of schatten van de lichaamslengte van oudere verpleeghuispatiënten.