Availability and utility of body mass index for po

Authors: Theresa H M Keegan Gem M Le Laura A McClure Sally L Glaser

Publish Date: 2007/10/18

Volume: 19, Issue: 1, Pages: 51-57

PDF Link

Abstract

To evaluate the availability of body height and weight data in the hospital medical record of cancer patients and discuss the utility of the findings to populationbased cancer research and the surveillance of overweight and obesity in the United StatesMedical records were reviewed for up to three measures of height and weight for a random sample of 1739 patients diagnosed 20012003 with one of the 12 types of cancer and reported to the populationbased Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry of Northern CaliforniaAbout 84 of cancer patients had at least one value of height 91 had at least one value of weight and 83 had both values recorded in the medical record such that body mass index BMI could be computed About 60 of height and weight values were recorded within 2 months of cancer diagnosis with most values 71 recorded after cancer diagnosis The availability of BMI varied somewhat by race/ethnicity cancer site initial treatment and hospital characteristicsBMI may be sufficiently available to be included routinely in the populationbased cancer registries and if so would be useful for studies of cancer diagnoses and outcomes and permit nationwide surveillance of BMI in a large populationrepresentative cohort of cancer patientsThe authors thank Ashley Dunham Patricia Weeks and Cammie D’Entremont for their contributions to this study This study was supported by funds from the SEER Rapid Response Surveillance Study program of the National Cancer Institute N01PC35136 The collection of cancer incidence data used in this study was supported by the California Department of Health Services as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885 the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program under contract N01PC35136 awarded to the Northern California Cancer Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries under agreement U55/CCR92193002 awarded to the Public Health Institute The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and endorsement by the State of California Department of Health Services the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or their contractors and subcontractors is not intended nor should be inferred

Keywords: