Journal article
Reliability of anthropometric measurements in children with special needs.
- Abstract:
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Objectives
To determine the reliability of anthropometric and body composition measurements in children with special needs.
Design
Observational study.
Setting
Specialist support schools (primary and secondary) in Manchester, UK.
Participants
53 children with moderate-to-severe learning disability; 30 non-standers (14 boys) and 23 standers (15 boys). Mean ages were 11 years (range 3–20) for non-standers and 12.4 years (range 8–19) for standers.
Measures
Anthropometric measures included: height/length, segmental measures, weight, skinfolds, body circumferences and body composition estimated from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). These were measured twice, 2–4 weeks apart.
Main outcome measures
Reliability was assessed using the technical error of measurement (TEM).
Results
The TEM for height and supine length was 0.55 cm for standers and 2.47 cm for non-standers, respectively. For non-standers, the TEMs for knee height and tibial length were 0.81 and 1.57 cm, respectively. The TEM for weight was 0.55 kg for standers and 0.75 kg for non-standers. For skinfold thickness, the TEM was smaller for non-standers than standers. The TEM for mid-upper arm circumference for standers and nonstanders was 0.91 and 0.82 cm, respectively. The TEM for BIA in standers and non-standers was 34.7 and 54.1 Ω, respectively. Some measurements, including waist circumferences, were difficult to obtain reliably.
Conclusions
Anthropometric and body composition measurements were feasible to obtain in children with special needs. However, the reliability of these measures differs between non-standers and standers and should be considered when choosing appropriate measures.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 540.3KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1136/archdischild-2017-314243
Authors
- Publisher:
- BMJ Publishing Group
- Journal:
- Archives of Disease in Childhood More from this journal
- Volume:
- 103
- Issue:
- 8
- Pages:
- 757-762
- Publication date:
- 2018-03-17
- Acceptance date:
- 2018-02-11
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1468-2044
- ISSN:
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0003-9888
- Pmid:
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29550764
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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pubs:831059
- UUID:
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uuid:6adc8b9a-39f5-4b16-8c4d-6c80a41c674d
- Local pid:
-
pubs:831059
- Source identifiers:
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831059
- Deposit date:
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2018-03-26
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Canoy et al
- Copyright date:
- 2018
- Notes:
- © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from the BMJ Publishing Group at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2017-314243
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