TY - JOUR T1 - Determining Accuracy of Arm Measurements to Predict Height Compared to Actual Height Measurement JF - Respiratory Care VL - 65 IS - Suppl 10 SP - 3445277 AU - Ryan M Bechtel Y1 - 2020/10/01 UR - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/65/Suppl_10/3445277.abstract N2 - Background: Measurement of arm span has been used as a predictor of height in pulmonary function testing and ulnar length measurement is used by nutritional experts. Can these measurements be used to predict height in patients that are admitted inpatient that do not have a documented standing height? We sought to find correlation between measured height standing and the measurement of arm span and measured ulnar lengths. Methods: IRB approval was obtained for this prospective study of patients receiving outpatient pulmonary function testing (PFT). Patients presenting to the pulmonary physiology lab for PFT’s that could stand to have accurate height measured were included. Exclusion selection criteria included those that were unable to stand for measurements, or those that did not consent. The respiratory therapist would measure the patient’s height standing, followed by arm span, and the left and right ulnar lengths. Age, sex, race, and perceived conditions that could affect measurements were also recorded. Results: 601 patients were recruited with 50 being excluded during data analysis. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS software v25 (IBM, Armonk, New York). The measurements were as follows: mean height standing was 166.53 ± 9.97 cm, mean arm span was 171.08 ± 12.57 cm, predicted height based on ulnar length was 170.79 ± 9.15 cm for the right arm and 171.02 ± 9.36 cm for the left arm. Bivariate correlation was used to compare height standing to arm span and predicted height from ulnar length for the right and left arms which produced Pearson coefficients of 0.851, 0.759 and 0.752 respectively and all significant (P <.001). Conclusions: Arm span measurements strongly correlated to measured height while ulnar length produced a moderate correlation. In the absence of measured height standing; arm span and ulnar length may be viable to predict a patient’s height. Demographics TableCorrelations Table ER -