INTRODUCTION: The assessment of nutritional status plays a critical role in comprehensive child care, however, in children with cerebral palsy (CP) is difficult to meet some reliable anthropometric measures, particularly height. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the equations to estimate stature, developed and validated in CP populations of other countries, apply to our reality. PATIENTS AND METHOD: An anthropometric assessment in 60 children with cerebral palsy that included measurement of weight, height and body segments like tibia length (TL) and knee height (KH) was performed. The height was estimated using the above described segments and the Stevenson et al.¹ equations. The correlation and agreement between the measured and the estimated stature were evaluated. RESULTS: Height could be reliably measured in 36 individuals and in all cases height was estimated. The correlation between the measured and the estimated lengths for TL and KH was 0.975 and 0.981 respectively (p < 0.001). The analysis of agreement between the estimated and measured lengths showed on average a significant level of agreement, with an error of -2.96 cm for TL and 0.21 cm for KH. CONCLUSIONS: The equations to estimate stature from the body segments, tibia length and knee height, are valid and useful to assess the linear growth in children with CP in our population.
INTRODUCTION: The assessment of nutritional status plays a critical role in comprehensive child care, however, in children with cerebral palsy (CP) is difficult to meet some reliable anthropometric measures, particularly height. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the equations to estimate stature, developed and validated in CP populations of other countries, apply to our reality. PATIENTS AND METHOD: An anthropometric assessment in 60 children with cerebral palsy that included measurement of weight, height and body segments like tibia length (TL) and knee height (KH) was performed. The height was estimated using the above described segments and the Stevenson et al.¹ equations. The correlation and agreement between the measured and the estimated stature were evaluated. RESULTS: Height could be reliably measured in 36 individuals and in all cases height was estimated. The correlation between the measured and the estimated lengths for TL and KH was 0.975 and 0.981 respectively (p < 0.001). The analysis of agreement between the estimated and measured lengths showed on average a significant level of agreement, with an error of -2.96 cm for TL and 0.21 cm for KH. CONCLUSIONS: The equations to estimate stature from the body segments, tibia length and knee height, are valid and useful to assess the linear growth in children with CP in our population.