Abstract

Body height explains the longitudinal dimensionality of humans. It has been is an important feature in research in humans from the perspective of anthropology, epidemiology, health, and physical performance. While methods for bod height measurement are well established, technological development provides nuanced, valid and reliable devices that could reduce the sources of measurement error. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of an automatic ultrasonic device for measuring body height in comparison with the standard Martin anthropometric method. The study included 50 participants of both sexes who voluntarily took part in the testing. The testing protocol consisted of a standardized procedure for measuring body height using the Martin anthropometer (ANT_BH) and an automatic ultrasonic (IC) device (IC_BH). The results of this study demonstrated an exceptionally high level of reliability and precision of the automatic IC device for body height measurement, with a low coefficient of variation (ANT_BH = 4.35%, IC_BH = 4.19%), an excellent intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.998), and a small standard error of measurement (SEMaps = 0.33 cm). Factor analysis, Bland–Altman analysis, and linear regression confirmed a high level of agreement with the standard anthropometric method, a small and statistically non-significant bias (0.26 cm), and a strong predictive relationship (R² = 0.946). The results suggest that the automatic IC device represents a highly reliable, precise, and valid alternative to the standard anthropometric method of measuring body height, without the presence of systematic or proportional error.

Keywords: reliability, validity, anthropometric assessment, measurement