Truth be told: evidence of wheelchair users' accuracy in reporting their height and weight.

OBJECTIVES To examine whether wheelchair users' self-reports of height and weight differed significantly from direct measurements and whether weight category classifications differed substantially when based on self-reported or measured values. DESIGN Single group, cross-sectional analysis. Analyses included paired t tests, chi-square test, analysis of variance, and Bland-Altman agreement analyses. SETTING A university-based exercise lab. PARTICIPANTS Community-dwelling wheelchair users (N=125). INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Participants' self-reported and measured height, weight, and body mass index. RESULTS Paired t tests revealed that there were significant differences between wheelchair users' self-reported and measured values for height (difference of 3.1±7.6cm [1.2±3.0in]), weight (-1.7±6.5kg [-3.6±14.2lb]), and BMI (-1.6±3.3). These discrepancies also led to substantial misclassification into weight categories, with reliance on self-reported BMI underestimating the weight status of 20% of the sample. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that similar to the general population, wheelchair users are prone to errors when reporting their height and weight and that these errors may exceed those noted in the general population.