Abstract
Objective:Recent research from a self-report survey showed a strong association between obesity and clinical depression in women. The present analysis assessed whether differential bias in self-reports of height and weight as a function of depression influences the apparent strength of the association.Methods:Accuracy of self-reported height and weight was assessed in 250 obese (mean BMI38.7 kg/m 2) women, 135 of whom met the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for clinical depression.Results:Depressed and non-depressed women underreported their weight by 1.5 and 1.2 kg, respectively. They underreported their height by 0.002 and 0.003 m, respectively.Discussion:Bias in self-reports of body weight and height is similar in depressed and non-depressed obese women. The underreporting of weight in both groups is similar in magnitude to that seen in normal weight women. Thus, using self-reports of height and weight seems unlikely to bias estimates of the association between obesity and clinical depression in women.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 473-475 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Obesity |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2008 |