title: Hand length as an alternative measurement of height.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the utmost importance of body height in evaluating nutritional status, it is not always possible to obtain its measurement and height may have to be estimated. The objective of the study was to formulate and cross-validate a regression equation to predict height using hand length measurement and also to determine if predicted height (PH) will lead to significant errors when used in body mass index (BMI) calculation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted using a consecutive sample of 465 inpatients (19-91 years), from a university hospital. Participants were randomly divided into a development sample of 311 individuals and a cross-validation one. A linear regression model was used to formulate the equation. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for single measures and differences between measured height (MH) and PH and between BMI calculated with MH (BMI(MH)) and with PH (BMI(PH)) were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The regression equation for PH is: PH (cm)=80.400+5.122 × hand length (cm)--0.195 × age (years)+6.383 × gender (gender: women 0, men 1) (R=0.87, s.e. of the estimate=4.98 cm). MH and PH were strongly correlated, ICCs: 0.67-0.74 (P<0.001). Differences were small, mean difference±s.d., < or = -0.6±4.4 cm (P > or = 0.24). BMI(MH) and BMI(PH) were strongly correlated, ICCs: 0.94-0.96 (P<0.001). Differences were small, < or = 0.3±1.7 kg/m2 (P > or = 0.10).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The formulated regression equation using hand length, age and gender provides a valid estimation of height and is useful in the clinical context. PH from this regression equation can be used in BMI calculations as misclassification is small.
authors.affiliation: 1] Departamento de Bioquímica, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Portugal [2] UISPA-IDMEC, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal [3] Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.affiliation: Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pichel
authors.affiliation: UISPA-IDMEC, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Restivo
authors.affiliation: 1] UISPA-IDMEC, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal [2] Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Amaral
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors