Height measurement technique in osteoporosis patients

Abstract

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: According to the International Society of Clinical Densitometry, patients with prospective height loss of >2cm in women or >3cm in men, warrant vertebral fracture assessment by DEXA technology. Accurate technique of measurement of height in osteoporosis (OP) patients has not been studied extensively. The objectives of our study were to compare the standard method of measuring height from the stadiometer with a carpenter’s level and using the drop down scale with a carpenter’s level and to check whether the accuracy of the average of three measurements is as good as a single measurement of height. METHODS: We measured height in 30 consecutive patients who attended the OP clinic using both techniques. Height was measured three times and average was taken. We also measured height three times in 172 OP patients only by using the drop down scale with the carpenter’s level. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was seen between the height measurements taken from the stadiometer and the drop down scale(p<0.001). Among the 172 patients who had their height measured three times, there was no statistical difference between the first value and the average value (p=0.377) or among the three measured height values. CONCLUSION: Measuring height from the stadiometer with a carpenter’s level using the correct technique is an accurate method and measuring the height three times and taking the average is unnecessary as a single measurement is accurate.