ArticleBMC public health2019
Examining validity of body mass index calculated using height and weight data from the US driver license.
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Family history of type 2 diabetes and the risk of type 2 diabetes among young and middle-aged adults.Chronic diseases and translational medicine · 2025Article
- Neighborhood built environment, obesity, and diabetes: A Utah siblings study.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- How tall am I again? A longitudinal analysis of the reliability of self-reported height.SSM - population health · 2023Article
- Consumption of selected food products by adults representing various body mass categories, during Covid-19 lockdown in Poland.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Article
- Body Mass Index and Mammographic Density in a Multiracial and Multiethnic Population-Based Study.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2022Article
- Behavioral economic cigarette demand among individuals who smoke with and without obesity.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2021Article
- Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Hispanic Breast Cancer Survivors in a Population-Based Cohort.JNCI cancer spectrum · 2021Article
- Association Between Body Mass Index and Results of Rehabilitation in Patients After Stroke: A 3-Month Observational Follow-Up Study.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2019Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDriver license departments in many US states collect data on individuals' height and weight. These data can be useful to researchers in epidemiological and public health studies. As height and weight on driver license are self-reported, they may be prone to reporting bias. We compare height and weight obtained from driver license records and clinically measured height and weight, as well as body mass index (BMI) values calculated using the two data sources for the same individual.
methodsWe linked individual height and weight records obtained from the Driver License Division (DLD) in the Utah Department of Public Safety to clinical records from one of the largest healthcare providers in the state of Utah. We then calculated average differences between height, weight and BMI values separately for women and men in the sample, as well as discrepancies between the two sets of measures by age and BMI category. We examined how well self-reported height and weight from the driver licenses classify individuals into specific BMI categories based on clinical measures. Finally, we used two sets of BMI values to estimate individuals' relative risk of type II diabetes.
resultsIndividuals, on average, tend to overestimate their height and underestimate their weight. Consequently, the value of BMI calculated using driver license records is lower than BMI calculated using clinical measurements. The discrepancy varies by age and by BMI category. Despite the discrepancy, BMI based on self-reported height and weight allows for accurate categorization of individuals at the higher end of the BMI scale, such as the obese. When used as predictors of relative risk of type II diabetes, both sets of BMI values yield similar risk estimates.
conclusionsData on height and weight from driver license data can be a useful asset for monitoring population health in states where such information is collected, despite the degree of misreporting associated with self-report.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.