Self‐reported body weight and height on admission to hospital: A reliable method in multi‐professional evidence‐based nutritional care?

Abstract

Screening patients' nutritional status on admission to hospital is recommended by evidence-based guidelines on malnutrition. In practice, self-reported values for body weight and height are often used by nurses and dieticians. This study assessed the accuracy of self-reported body weight and height and whether these self-reported values might be influenced by the nature of the health-care worker involved. Patients (n = 611) on admission reported their body weight and height to a nurse and a dietician. Reported values were analysed and compared with the measured values. Self-reported values for body weight and height on admission are not always accurate. Patients do report different values to different health-care workers. Self-reported values for body weight to nurses were more accurate as compared with dieticians. Self-reported values for body weight and height are subject to observer bias and should be used with caution in nutritional screening and multi-professional nutritional care.

Accuracy of self‐reported and measured anthropometric data in the inpatient population

“…found in their study that the prevalence of overweight was 0.4% to 17.7% lower when BMI was based on self‐reported data rather than clinically measured data. These findings are consistent with results of the study conducted recently by Geurden et al . The authors found that BMI values based on self‐reported data could lead to false negative or positive effects with respect to BMI classification.…”

“…It is not surprising that older people, in particular, tend to over‐report their height, whereas younger people, women in particular, tend to underreport their weight, probably due to the fact that in Western society thinness and tallness are generally seen as ideal . Overestimation of height might occur because people do not measure their height very often and sometimes a long period of time has elapsed since height was last measured . Furthermore, older people might report their height as they remember it from a younger age, before the onset of osteoporosis.…”

Does Documentation in Nursing Records of Nutritional Screening on Admission to Hospital Reflect the Use of Evidence‐Based Practice Guidelines for Malnutrition?

“…Therefore, nutritional risk screening by nurses of patients on admission to hospital is seldom performed as routine (Leistra, Visser, van der Hout, Langius, & Kruizenga, 2013;Wentzel, Hall-Lord, Bååth, & Larsson, 2008), and evidence suggests persistent undertreatment of patients at risk of or already with malnutrition (Agarwal et al, 2012;Akner & Cederholm, 2001;Bansal, Scott, Stewart, & Cockerell, 2005;Kondrup et al, 2002;Kyle, Pirlich, Lochs, Schuetz, & Pichard, 2005;Rasmussen et al, 2004). Nurses' lack of time and poor knowledge of nutrition care processes, together with a lack of role clarity and shared responsibility, are the main barriers to efficient screening for malnutrition (Geurden, Franck, Van Looy, Weyler, & Ysebaert, 2012;Geurden, Franck, Weyler, & Ysebaert, 2011;Green & James, 2013;Raja et al, 2008;Ross, Mudge, Young, & Banks, 2011). Furthermore, nurses have a lot of competing priorities at mealtimes, which causes a sense of powerlessness to prioritize nutrition in the hospital setting (Ross et al, 2011).…”