Does clinical depression affect the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in obese women?

Robert W. Jeffery, Emily A. Finch, Jennifer A. Linde, Gregory E. Simon, Evette J. Ludman, Belinda H. Operskalski, Paul Rohde, Laura E. Ichikawa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)473-475
Number of pages3
JournalObesity
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2008

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