Arm Span-Height Relationship for Prediction of Spirometric Values in Korean Adult Women.

Koh, Won Jung; Ju, Young Su; Kim, Tae Yub; Park, Jae Sung; Yu, Seung Do; Choi, Kwaung Soo; Paek, Domyung; Han, Sung Koo; Shim, Young Soo

doi:1999.46.6.786

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 46(6); 1999 > Article

Original Article

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 1999;46(6):786-794.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1999.46.6.786 Published online June 1, 1999.

Arm Span-Height Relationship for Prediction of Spirometric Values in Korean Adult Women.

Won Jung Koh, Young Su Ju, Tae Yub Kim, Jae Sung Park, Seung Do Yu, Kwaung Soo Choi, Domyung Paek, Sung Koo Han, Young Soo Shim

¹Environmental Epidemiology Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
³Occupational Health Program, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
⁴Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Arm span measurements provide a practical substitute for standing height to predict normal spirometric values in subjects unable to stand or those with a skeletal deformity such as kyphoscoliosis. The relationship between arm span and height has previously been reported as either a fixed ratio unaffected by age or as a regression equation in which the ratio varies as a function of age. The fixed ratio or regression equation is known to be specific for sex and race. METHODS: We studied the relationship between standing height, arm span, and age in 381 Korean adult female subjects (ages 20 to 69 yrs) sampled in a general population. RESULTS: The mean ratio for arm span to height is 1.004. Multiple linear analysis found arm span and age to be predictive of standing height (p=0.0001, r2=0.76). We performed the analysis of the difference between the predicted height using either fixed ratio or regression equation and actual height. At the extremes of arm span and age, the ratio method either underestimated (at smaller arm span or younger age) or overestimated (at larger arm span or older age) as compared with actual height (p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: This results indicate that the estimated height using the fixed ratio method provides a less acceptable method of estimating height for the prediction of lung volumes in the Korean adult women when compared with the regression equations, especially at the extremes of stature or age.

Key Words: Arm span, Height, Spirometry