Accuracy of self-reported weight in a non-normal population.

Although prior studies have concluded that self-reported weight was accurate enough that it could readily be substituted for measured weight, the populations in these prior studies were either not well-defined or lacked generalizability. The present study was done in a well-defined group of 167 consecutive, male Veterans Administration (VA) patients. The relationship between actual weight (AW) and self-reported weight (RW) was found to be: AW = 0.96* RW + 16.3, and the standard error of estimate was 11.6 lbs, roughly twice as great as reported previously. The factors most closely associated with self-reporting error were obesity, race, and a history of congestive heart failure.