The Influence of Body Mass Index on the Hand Surface Area in Taiwanese Adult

Abstract

Accurate assessments of the surface areas of burn injuries are important for the prognosis and initial fluid resuscitation of burn victims. The area of the surface of the hand is often used to estimate the area of a burn. In our previous study, the volar hand surface area is equal to 0.75% of body surface area in Taiwanese adult. But none discusses about variations in individual body weight. In this study, we used two-dimensional projection to estimate hand surface areas of Taiwanese adults in variant of body mass index. The areas of the volar hand, including that of the thumb and fingers, in healthy, overweight and obese Taiwanese were 0.82%, 0.74%, and 0.70% of body surface area, respectively. We conclude that the ratio between hand and body surface area of Taiwanese adults differ from that of individual body weight and suggest an adjustment of the ratio for use with overweight and obese people.