Self-report credibility of anthropometric measures in the Israeli - Arab population during the corona-virus breakout

Joseph Azuri, Nour Sawaed, Iris Reychav

Keywords: Arab sector; Self-reporting; Anthropometric data

Background:

Health promotion processes involve various anthropometric measures, such as blood pressure, height, and weight, which sometimes are based on the patients' self-report. It is therefore important to ensure the reliability of these reports. During the Corona outbreak, great variability in patients' anxiety levels was observed. According to the ECM (Confirmation-Expectation Model) model, anxiety may influence the patients' health perceptions and affect the self-report reliability. There is also a lack of information regarding the Arab populations' self-report reliability.

Research questions:

To examine whether anthropometric measures (blood pressure, height, and weight) collected from Arab patients in primary care clinics during the corona outbreak were reliable.

Method:

Questionnaires were distributed to patients using a mobile device when awaiting a primary care physician visit. They included demographic questions, a self-report of clinical indices, and an anxiety perception questionnaire. The data were compared to the actual measurement data.

Results:

239 patients, 54% males, mean age 45.18±12.05, completed the questionnaire. There were no significant differences between self-report and actual measurements of weight (74.03±19.58 vs. 74.46±38.22, respectively, p=0.279) or height (171.07±9.05 vs. 178.77±19.25, respectively, p=0.184). Self-report of blood pressure was lower for systolic (133.22±15.34 vs. 135.08±16.88, respectively, p<0.001) and higher for diastolic blood pressure (69.95±12.78 vs. 68.76±12.75, respectively, p=0.007), although the differences were not clinically significant. Self-efficacy and anxiety symptoms were not associated with decreased reliability of the self-report.

Conclusions:

Self-reports of anthropometric parameters by Arab patients waiting for a primary care physician visit are reliable, even though the Corona pandemic.

Points for discussion:

Self-report of clinical measures among patients

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