Introduction: The weight is an anthropometric parameter routinely used in ambulatory and hospital settings, and takes its importance, because often there are clinical conditions that impede it´s taking in a traditional scale. There are equations to estimate weight. However, they have not been designed for Mexican ambulatory patients.
Objective: To develop an equation to estimate weight in Mexican ambulatory patients from the Study of Health, Well Being and Aging, corresponding to Mexico city an surrounded area.
Material and methods: The database of the Study of Health, Well Being and Aging of Mexico City was used, and adults of 60 years and older, who completed the anthropometric measures were included. Two groups of datasets were crated though random numbers, one for the design and the other for the validation of the equation. The equation was obtained from the first database and cross-validated in the second.
Results: The equations obtained were: (0.67)* (Knee height)+(0.46)* (Mid-arm circumference)+(0.60)* (waist circumference)+(0.38)* (hip circumference)+(0.53)* (calf circumference)-(0.17)* (Age in years)-80.01 and (0.69)* (Knee height)+(0.61)* (Mid-arm circumference)+(0.17)* (waist circumference)+(0.45)* (hip circumference)+(0.58)* (calf circumference)-(0.24)* (Age in years)-55.9 in men and women respectively. The correlation coefficients were 0.94 y 0.92 (p<0.001 for both). The differences between the real and estimated values were not significant.
Conclusion: The equations developed in our analysis were confident and can be employed to estimate weight in ambulatory elderly. It is needed to test its validity in clinical scenarios were it is not possible to weight patients directly in the rest of the Mexican republic and adjust to specific populations.