Does clinical depression affect the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in obese women?
OBJECTIVE
Recent research from a self-report survey showed a strong association between obesity and clinical depression in women. The present analysis assessed whether differential bias in self-reports of height and weight as a function of depression influences the apparent strength of the association.


METHODS
Accuracy of self-reported height and weight was assessed in 250 obese (mean BMI=38.7 kg/m(2)) women, 135 of whom met the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for clinical depression.


RESULTS
Depressed and non-depressed women underreported their weight by 1.5 and 1.2 kg, respectively. They underreported their height by 0.002 and 0.003 m, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Bias in self-reports of body weight and height is similar in depressed and non-depressed obese women. The underreporting of weight in both groups is similar in magnitude to that seen in normal weight women. Thus, using self-reports of height and weight seems unlikely to bias estimates of the association between obesity and clinical depression in women.
Jeffery
Robert W
RW
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. jefferyrw@gmail.com
Finch
Emily A
EA
Linde
Jennifer A
JA
Simon
Gregory E
GE
Ludman
Evette J
EJ
Operskalski
Belinda H
BH
Rohde
Paul
P
Ichikawa
Laura E
LE
D001827:Body Height; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D012649:Self Concept; D012650:Self Disclosure