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Biomedical subjects

K Wholihan

Publications and source records attributed to K Wholihan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Stature prediction equations for elderly non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican-American persons developed from NHANES III data.

OBJECTIVE: To develop new, nationally representative equations to predict stature for racial/ethnic groups of the elderly population in the United States. DESIGN: Anthropometric data for stature, knee height, and sitting height for adults aged 60 years or older were collected from a sample of persons in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994), a national probability sample of the US population. SUBJECTS: A gender- and racial/ethnic-stratified sample of 4,750 persons from the US population (1,369 non-Hispanic white men, 1,472 non-Hispanic white women, 474 non-Hispanic black men, 481 non-Hispanic black women, 497 Mexican-American men, 457 Mexican-American women) aged 60 years or older participated in this study. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Sampling weights were used to adjust the individual data to account for unequal probabilities of selection, nonresponse, and coverage errors so that all individual data used in these analyses represented national probability estimates. Regression analysis was performed to predict stature in each gender and ethnic group, and the results were cross-validated. RESULTS: Stature prediction models using knee height and age and sitting height and age were evaluated for each gender and racial/ethnic group. The equations with knee height and age were selected on the basis of root mean square error and pure errors in cross-validation and on the accuracy and validity of measures of knee height over sitting height. Results of these regressions, including regression coefficients, standard errors of the coefficients, multiple correlation coefficients, root mean square error, and the standard error for the individual for the final equations, are presented. CONCLUSIONS: New stature prediction equations using knee height and age are presented for non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American elderly persons from current nationally representative data. These equations should be applied when a measure of stature cannot be obtained, for example, for persons with amputations of the leg, or with spinal curvature or who are confined to bed. Predicted stature values are acceptable surrogates in nutritional indexes.

Age Factors↗

Reference data for head circumference-for-length in preterm low-birth-weight infants.

OBJECTIVE: To provide reference data for head circumference-for-length in preterm low-birth-weight infants that are independent of age, but extend for the ranges of head circumference (34-49 cm) and length (52.0-102.9 cm) values found from birth to 36 months of gestation-adjusted age. DESIGN: Measurements were made at 9 ages in 867 preterm infants in the Infant Health Development Program, a randomized clinical trial that included various ethnic groups at 8 sites. At birth, two thirds of the infants weighed less than 2000 g, and one third weighed between 2000 and 2500 g. Measurements were taken at birth, at 40 weeks of postconceptional age, and at 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of gestation-adjusted age. A model fitted to the serial data for each infant was used to estimate head circumference and length from 36 weeks after conception to 36 months of gestation-adjusted age. RESULTS: Tables and charts of means and SDs and selected percentiles for each sex were made. These tables and charts are for very low (< or = 1500 g) and low-birth-weight (1501-2500 g) infants by 3-cm intervals of length. CONCLUSION: These tables and charts should assist clinicians in evaluating and monitoring head circumference in preterm low-birth-weight infants by taking body length into account.

Body Height↗

Weight-for-length reference data for preterm, low-birth-weight infants.

OBJECTIVE: To provide weight-for-length reference data for preterm, very-low-birth-weight and low-birth-weight infants. DESIGN: Data from 867 infants (428 boys and 439 girls) in the Infant Health and Development Program, who each were preterm and who had a low birth weight, were used to develop weight-for-length reference data. The Infant Health and Development Program is a national, randomized, clinical trial that included various ethnic groups at 8 sites. At each site, sampling ensured that two thirds of the infants in the study weighed 2000 g or less and that one third of the infants weighed from 2001 to 2500 g at birth. Infants were examined at birth, at 40 weeks' postconception, and at 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months' gestation-adjusted age. Gestation-adjusted age was used instead of chronological age from birth to correct for the degree of prematurity. RESULTS: Weight-for-length percentiles are given for lengths at 3-cm intervals ranging from 48 to 100 cm. These percentiles are sex specific and are for a very-low-birth-weight group (< or = 1500 g) and a low-birth-weight group (1501-2500 g). CONCLUSIONS: These data should assist screening for deviations from normal growth and may aid in the early detection of failure to thrive and excessive weight gain in infancy.

Anthropometry↗