Method of determining body thickness from weight and height

Abstract

With attention given to the fact that information on weight and height is available in advance from electronic medical charts, we devised a method for determining body thickness on the basis of a simple calculation. The formula is as follows: body thickness=weight(a) x height(b) xf. In order to obtain body thickness from the above formula, it is necessary to determine optimal factors of a, b, and f. Therefore, the formula is modified to give f=body thickness/weight(a) x height(b). Then, a multiplier of a with b is changed to determine a combination in which f is varied to the smallest extent. Every site of the body is checked to find that an optimal multiplier of a with b is weight(0.6) x height(-0.8). This multiplier is applicable to all sites of the body. Then, f is given as a median of 15 to 74 cases in which calculation is made for each case based on the formula of weight(0.6) x height(-0.8) and the body thickness. A difference between calculation values and measured values is equivalent to the variation of f in which the median is given as 100%. The variation of f at all sites of the body is 3% to 11% in terms of average absolute deviation. The calculation difference is obtained by the formula of body thickness x average absolute deviation. Where the calculation difference is within the above range, clinical practices will be influenced to a small extent. Thus, this study will provide an effective method for determining body thickness.