CORRELATION BETWEEN STANDING HEIGHT AND ARM SPAN IN YOUNG ADULTS – A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Height is a significant parameter for assessing growth and development of an individual. It can vary in different populations. There are quite a handful of studies which support using arm span to substitute height for predicting lung volumes. The associations of arm span and body heightwas found to vary in different ethnic and racial groups. No such studies have been carried out in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, India. Thisstudy was done to show whether there is any relationship between height and arm span for young adults in Dakshina Kannada district. Methodology: Height and arm span were measured in 34 boys and 119 girlsfrom Alva’s Education Foundation, Moodbidri with the help of stadiometer and calibrated steel tape. The height measured was vertical distance from the vertex to floor. Arm span measured was the straight distance between tipof middle fingers right and left, when the arms are fully stretched and are parallel to the floor. For statistical analysis (Statistical Package for SocialSciences) SPSS Version 16 was used. Result: Pearson correlation was used to correlate variables. Mean height for girls 157.38 (SD =6.96) cm and for boys 167.93 (SD=6.98) cm. Mean armspan for girls 161.63 cm and for boys 176.2 cm. The correlation coefficient between height and arm span was 0.890 for girls and 0.826 for boys. P< 0.05 for both groups. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level. Conclusion: Height and arm span have strong correlation and arm span can be used as reliable parameter for predicting the height of young adult individuals.

Keywords:

Standing height , arm span , stadiometer , Dakshina Kannada