Development of anthropometric chair based on arm span, knee height, and sitting height for elderly

Elderly with less nutritional status would be susceptible to get infectious disease, immune deficiencies, reduced productivity, high risk of various complications of disease, and can even cause death. Height as the one indicator of nutritional status assessment in elderly is difficult to measured due to such conditions as osteoporosis, scoliosis, kyphosis, etc. Arm span, knee height and sitting height can be used to predict the height. However, some anthropometric measurements with different positions are not effective because of discomfort. Three anthropometric measurements in one tool like a chair can overcome the problems. The study aimed to develop the anthropometric chair (Body Mass Index/BMI Meter) for elder's nutritional status assessment with an easy, practical measurement. The study design was cross sectional using survey method toward 300 healthy older people. Upper leg length, lower leg length, pelvic width, shoulder width, elbow height, shoulder height and patellar height were measured to design the chair. The study revealed that the male elderly had higher data anthropometric than female. The mean of anthropometric data decreased with age. The validity of anthropometric chair from the sensitivity (85-100%), specificity (70-80%), Positive Predictive Value (80-90%) and Negative Predictive Value (80-100%). The anthropometric chair can be used for assessing elders nutritional status.