The authors analyze whether estimated height and weight agree with measured height and weight and with values provided by patients or their closest relative.

Knowledge of patients’ height and weight is essential for daily practice in intensive care units (ICUs). According to current advice,1,–3 in patients with acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome, adjustments in tidal volumes should be based on predicted body weight (which is a function of height). Also, patients’ weight is used to adjust the dose of many drugs, and the dosages of infusions of vasoactive drugs are expressed in micrograms per kilogram of body weight per minute so that cardiovascular function can be assessed and comparisons between patients can be made.4 Further, in recent studies,5,–11 researchers have investigated obesity as a risk factor for additional morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients.

Unfortunately, obtaining patients’...

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