In a paper published four years ago in this journal1 we included an assessment of factors influencing the accuracy of self-reported anthropometry in the elderly. The analysis was based on 257 surviving members of the Boyd Orr Cohort aged 56–78 years with both self-reported (questionnaire) and measured values recorded for their weight, height, and leg length.

As well as comparing self-report and measured values using Bland-Altman plots2 we also carried out a multivariable linear regression analysis to investigate factors associated with the difference between self-reported and measured anthropometry (‘misreporting’). The factors examined in these models were age, gender, social class, and other anthropometric …