BODY HEIGHT AND ITS ESTIMATION UTILIZING ARM SPAN MEASUREMENTS AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF SANAAAND UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SANAA CITY,YEMEN: AN ANTHROPOMETRIC STUDY

Background: Arm span is the most reliable anthropometric measurement to estimate the height of an individual. Objective the present study was under taken to measure the height as well as arm span and to determine whether there is any correlation between the height and the arm spanamong medical students in university of Sanaa as the government university and university of science and technology(UST) as the private university in Sanaa city, Yemen. Cross sectional study was carried out with a total number of 396, with equal size of gender, aged between 17 to 27 years. Height and arm span were measured by using anthropometric techniqueconducted from October to December 2020. The data statistically analyzed by computation to find out its normative value. The relationship between body height and arm span were determined using simple correlation coefficients. Result: males had higher means in height and arm span, the differences weresignificant.All parameters were higher for students of UST, differences arm span were significant (p values < 0.05), no significant differences were found according to their study level, the difference in height and arm span between males and females weresignificant, there were a strong positive correlation between arm span and height. The correlation coefficient for males was 0.555, for females was 0.602, and overall correlation for total sample was 0.762. In conclusion these correlations were statistically significant.Therefore, the arm span measure seems to be a reliable indirect anthropometric measurement for estimating body height in adults.