Interevaluator reliability of a tool for measuring body height in adult intensive care patients

Background

The calculation of body height in the intensive care unit is essential for obtaining the ideal body weight, which is used to program the tidal volume and establish objective and effective pulmonary ventilation. The objective of the study was to determine the interrater reliability of a tool for measuring body height in adult patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) in southwestern Colombia.

Methods

This cross-sectional observational study was conducted between January and May 2021, following the recommendations of the COSMIN protocol. Two physiotherapists in the roles of observer/evaluator measured the heights of 106 patients upon admission to the ICU with a previously designed. The sample size was calculated based on Pearson's correlation coefficient. For interrater reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used, and Bland–Altman analysis was used to assess concordance. The 95% confidence interval was established, and a P value <0.05 indicated statistical significance.

Results

A total of 106 individuals with a mean age of 59.3 years were included; the mean body height was 158.5 cm for women. The interrater reliability of the measurement of height was excellent (global ICC of 0.99, P = 0.000), and an almost perfect positive correlation was obtained between the raters for both women and men (R = 0.99).

Conclusions

Excellent interrater/interobserver reliability was obtained for the measurement of body height in the ICU. This research highlights the importance of protocolizing the measurement of height in critical patients with valid and reliable instruments.