Estimation of height in elderly Japanese using region‐specific knee height equations

Abstract

Two knee height equations to predict standing height of Japanese elderly were cross-validated with Joetsu City elders. One equation was derived with Hawaiian residents of Japanese ancestry and the other with elders from the Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. Subjects included 40 men and 39 women free-dwelling, healthy elders with mean ages of 68.0 +/- 2.2 years and 68.0 +/- 2.7 years, respectively. Heights of the subjects were representative of Japanese elderly. Experienced nurses, trained to measure knee height, also measured standing height with an automatic stadiometer. A pilot study refined measurement skills. Differences between actual and predicted heights for both equations were significant. Multiple linear regression was used to derive knee height equations specific for elderly males and females living in Joetsu City: women, 63.06 + (2.38 x knee height in cm) -(0.34 x age in years); men, 71.16 + (2.61 x knee height in cm) - (0.56 x age in years). Geographic-specific knee height equations for Japanese elderly and cross-validation with other locations are suggested to facilitate the accurate use of knee height in nutritional assessment of Japanese elders.

Ulna length to predict height in English and Portuguese patient populations

“…Differences may exist between groups of Caucasian and non-Caucasian subjects, as has been found for other surrogate measures of height. For example, different equations have been established for predicting stature from knee height in white and black populations (Chunlea and Guo, 1992), Japanese (Myers et al, 1994;Knous and Arisawa, 2002), Hispanics (Palloni and Guend, 2005) and Thai people (Cheng et al, 2001). As ulna length-height relationships have also been established in different populations in different ways, care should be taken about extrapolation from children (Valk, 1971;Cheng et al, 1998;Gauld et al, 2004;Smith, 2007) to adults (Elia M (chairman & editor), 2003;Agnihotri et al, 2009;Auyeung et al, 2009), and vice versa, between different ethnic groups, (Joshi et al, 1964;Elia M (chairman & editor), 2003;Gauld et al, 2004;Auyeung et al, 2009), between different measurement techniques (Munoz et al, 2001;Elia M (chairman & editor), 2003;Gauld et al, 2004;Zhou et al, 2007) and between healthy subjects and those with marked osteoporosis or scoliosis.…”

“…The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) suggests that ulna length can be used for this purpose in patients whose height cannot be easily measured, but it has only been validated in hospitalised patients in England (Elia M (chairman & editor), 2003). As the relationship between some surrogate measures, such as knee height and standing height, is known to vary between different national groups (Chunlea and Guo, 1992;Myers et al, 1994;Cheng et al, 2001;Knous and Arisawa, 2002;Elia M (chairman & editor), 2003;Palloni and Guend, 2005), it is possible that ulna length-height relationships also vary between different population groups. This study set out to examine whether the same equations can be used to predict stature from measurement of ulna length in British and Portuguese populations of hospitalised patients.…”

Stature estimation from partial measurements and maximum length of lower limb bones in Koreans

“…Kimura 18 estimated stature from the second metacarpal bone; other regression equations 19,20 have been developed from limb bone length in Japanese individuals. A few regression equations were additionally developed for stature estimation from limb bone length for Chinese 21,22 , Hong Kong 23 , and Thai 24 populations.…”

Health, Height, Height Shrinkage, and SES at Older Ages: Evidence from China

“…This works because the limbs used in this literature do not generally shrink as people age. Lower leg length (Chumlea, Roche, and Steinbaugh 1985; Chumlea and Guo 1992; Protho and Rosenbloom 1993; Myers, Takiguchi, and Yu 1994; Zhang, Hsu-Hage, and Wahlqvisl 1998; Bermúdez, Becker, and Tucker 1999; Li et al 2000; Cheng, See, and Shieh 2001; Pini et al 2001; Knous and Arisawa 2002), arm span from roughly the shoulder to the wrist (Kwok and Whitelaw 1991; Kwok, Lau, and Woo 2002), total arm length (Mitchell and Lipschitz 1982; Haboubi, Hudson, and Pathy 1990; Auyeung and Lee 2001), upper arm or humeral length, tibia length (Haboubi, Hudson, and Pathy 1990) and fibula length (Auyeung and Lee 2001) have all been employed to estimate pre-shrinkage stature.…”