Guess the weight: the accuracy of estimated weight for surgical admissions – a comparison study

Background and aims An accurate body weight is vital for safe dosing of many drugs. Weight is often unavailable for emergency admissions and an estimation is used. Emergency Department staff are poor at estimating patient weight, but no data existed for surgical admissions. This study assesses the reliability of weight estimation by patients and healthcare workers. Methods and results All emergency surgical patients admitted during one week were approached. If consented, four healthcare workers (consultant, foundation doctor, nurse, support worker) independently estimated their weight. The patients then gave their estimate. Actual weight was measured and data analysed. Seventy-two consecutive surgical admissions were included, aged 16–95 and 52% male. Healthcare workers correctly (within ±10% margin) estimated the weight for only 57% of patients. Further statistical analysis confirmed that staff are inaccurate estimators and patients are better at estimating their own weight (p