Recruiting participants for ergonomic research using self-reported stature and body mass

BACKGROUND: A valid distribution of key anthropometric parameters among participants is often a perquisite of ergonomics research.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we investigated the accuracy of self-reported stature and body mass of the population in the Netherlands.

METHODS: Data from 4 experiments was synthesized where in each experiment, participants self-reported their stature and body mass prior to being measured, of which they were not notified before.

RESULTS: Statistical analysis of 249 records indicated that on average, participants overreported their stature by 1.31 cm and underreported their mass by 1.45 kg. This is especially true for people with a BMI >= 25.

CONCLUSION: Two models were proposed to adjust the self-reported stature and body mass for ergonomic researchers in a survey or recruitment. Limitations in using the models are highlighted as well.