These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: [Body mass index: sensitivity and specificity].
    Author: Clemente L, Moreira P, Oliveira B, Almeida MD.
    Journal: Acta Med Port; 2004; 17(5):353-8. PubMed ID: 16197841.
    Abstract:
    INTRODUCTION: Self-reported height and weight data have been used in several studies with the purpose of determining the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Despite being a simple methodology, little information exists about the reliability of these measures, namely, in university students. The objective of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of self-reported body mass index (BMI) to evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in university students. METHODS: In a convenience sample of 380 university students (226 women and 154 men), weight and height were obtained by self-reported measures and anthropometric assessment according to international standards methodology (objective). BMI was calculated from self-reported and direct measures. RESULTS: The discrepancy between objective and self-reported weight was not significative. For height, this discrepancy was significantly different in women, in men, and between genders. The difference between BMI values was significantly different in women (0.8 +/- 1.1 kg/m2), in men (0.4 +/- 1.1 kg/m2) and between genders. Concerning overweight and obesity, according to the objective BMI, the sensitivity was only 50% in women, and 70% in men, while the specificity was 99% in women and 98% in men. CONCLUSION: Our results show a poor sensitivity of self-reported weight and height data, to estimate overweight and obesity, thus, this method might not be reliable for studies of prevalence of obesity in this population.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]