Research professor José Luis Estela Zape, attached to the María Cano University Foundation, Cali headquarters, in collaboration with researchers Harold Payán Salcedo, Lilian Chanchí Quintero and Esther Wilches Luna, have carried out an important study on the precise measurement of body height in critical patients, which is essential to determine the ideal body weight and, therefore, program pulmonary ventilation effectively. The team of researchers set out to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of a tool designed to measure body height in adult patients in Intensive Care Units – ICU.

The study, carried out between January and May 2021, was based on a cross-sectional observational design and followed the recommendations of the COSMIN protocol. Two physiotherapists played the role of observers – evaluators and performed height measurements in 106 patients upon admission to the ICU, using a specifically designed protocol. The results obtained are highly encouraging. The inter-rater reliability of the height measurement was excellent, with an overall Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.99. Furthermore, an almost perfect positive correlation was observed for both women and men. These findings underline the robustness and precision of the tool used in this study.

This work, published by the aforementioned researchers in the journal Enferm Intensiva (Engl Ed) with an impact factor Q2, not only validates a tool to measure height in critically ill patients, but also highlights the importance of protocolizing this process with valid instruments. and reliable. Implementing standardized protocols in the ICU can significantly improve the quality of care by ensuring accurate and reproducible measurements.

The contribution of this team of researchers not only advances the field of intensive care medicine, but also provides a solid foundation for future research and clinical practice. This study highlights the relevance of scientific research in the continuous improvement of standards of care in critical environments such as the ICU.

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