Accuracy of self-reported anthropometric measures — Findings from the Finnish Twin Study

J. Tuomela, J. Kaprio, P. N. Sipilä, K. Silventoinen, X. Wang, M. Ollikainen, M. Piirtola

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To determine the accuracy of self-reported height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) compared to the measured values, and to assess the similarity between self-reported and measured values within dizygotic (DZ) and monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. Methods: The data on self-reported and measured height, weight and WC values as well as measured hip circumference (HC) were collected from 444 twin individuals (53–67 years old, 60% women). Accuracies between self-reported and measured values were assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficients, Cohen's kappa coefficients and Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement. Intra-class correlation was used in within-pair analyses. Results: The correlations between self-reported and measured values were high for all variables (r = 0.86–0.98), although the agreement assessed by Bland-Altman 95% limits had relatively wide variation. The degree of overestimating height was similar in both sexes, whereas women tended to underestimate and men overestimate their weight. Cohen's kappa coefficients between self-reported and measured BMI categories were high: 0.71 in men and 0.70 in women. Further, the mean self-reported WC was less than the mean measured WC (difference in men 2.5 cm and women 2.6 cm). The within-pair correlations indicated a tendency of MZ co-twins to report anthropometric measures more similarly than DZ co-twins. Conclusions: Self-reported anthropometric measures are reasonably accurate indicators for obesity in large cohort studies. However, the possibility of more similar reporting among MZ pairs should be taken into account in twin studies exploring the heritability of different phenotypes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)522-528
Number of pages7
JournalObesity Research and Clinical Practice
Volume13
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2019

Keywords

  • Accuracy
  • Anthropometric measure
  • Body mass index
  • Hip circumference
  • Twin study
  • Waist circumference

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Nutrition and Dietetics

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