Table 1.

List of established formulas for measuring body surface area (BSA).

Formula	Equation	Sample Size	Age (Years)	Gender (F:M)	Main Limitation(s)
Banerjee (1955) [16]	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(cm}}^{\text{2}}\text{)}}={\text{weight}}_{{\text{(kg)}}^{0.425}}\times {\text{height}}_{{\text{(cm)}}^{0.725}}\times 74.66$	15	18-44	0%	Small sample size. Only relevant to Indian population. Inaccurate in SE Asian population [23].
Boyd (1935)	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(m}}^{\text{2}}\text{)}}={\text{weight}}_{{\text{(kg)}}^{\text{0.4838}}}\times {\text{height}}_{{\text{(cm)}}^{0.3}}\times \text{0.017827}$	197	Unclear*	Unclear*	BSA overestimated if: infant, short, obese. BSA underestimated if: tall, thin [14, 24, 25]. Study demographics unclear.
Du Bois (1916)	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(cm}}^2\text{)}}={\text{height}}_{{\text{(cm)}}^{\text{0.725}}}\times {\text{weight}}_{{\text{(kg)}}^{\text{0.425}}}\times 71.84$	9	Not stated	Not stated	BSA underestimated if: infant/child, obese [8, 14, 26, 27]. Significant patient heterogeneity. Study demographics unclear. Nutritional status of study sample is unrepresentative.
Gehan (1970)	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(m}}^2\text{)}}=\text{0.0235}\times {\text{height}}_{{{\text{(cm}}^2\text{)}}^{\text{0.42246}}}\times {\text{weight}}_{{\text{(kg)}}^{\text{0.51456}}}$	401	Infants -Adults	Not stated	BSA overestimated if: short, obese. BSA underestimated if: tall, thin, increasing body size [14, 24, 26]. Study demographics unclear. Inaccurate in SE Asian population [23].
Haycock (1978) [7]	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(m}}^2\text{)}}={\text{weight}}_{{\text{(kg)}}^{\text{0.5378}}}\times {\text{height}}_{{\text{(cm)}}^{\text{0.3964}}}\times \text{0.024265}$	81	ELBW infants -adults	Not accessible	BSA overestimated if: infant, short, obese. BSA underestimated if: tall, thin, increasing body size [24, 27, 28]. Inaccurate in SE Asian population [23].
Jones (1994) [29]	${\text{BSA}}_{\text{(m}}{}_{{}^{\text{2}}\text{)}}=\text{0.335+0.02}\times {\text{weight}}_{\text{(kg)}}$	28	3.1-10.5	46%	Small sample size. Only 4 males included. Narrow age range.
Meban (1983) [30]	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(cm}}^{\text{2}}\text{)}}=\text{6.4954}\times {({\text{1,000 weight}}_{\text{(g)}})}^{0.562}\times {\text{height}}_{{\text{(cm)}}^{\text{0.320}}}$	79	11-42 weeks gestation	Not stated	Only pathological human fetuses studied.
Mosteller (1987) [31]	$\text{BSA = }\frac{\sqrt{({\text{height}}_{\text{(cm)}}\times {\text{weight}}_{\text{(kg)}})}}{3,600}$	0	NA	NA	BSA overestimated if: short, obese [26]. BSA underestimated if: infant, tall, thin, low body size [14, 24, 32]. Less accurate simplification of the Gehan equation.
Shuter (2000) [33]	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(cm}}^{\text{2}}\text{)}}=94.9\times \left({\text{weight}}_{\text{(kg)}}\times 0.441\right)\times {(\text{height}}_{\text{(cm)}}\times 0.655)$	42	Not stated	Not stated	Small sample size. Patient demographics unavailable.
Yu (2003) [28]	${\text{BSA}}_{{\text{(cm}}^{\text{2}}\text{)}}={(\text{0.015925 }\times {\text{height}}_{\text{(cm)}}\times {\text{weight}}_{\text{(kg)}})}^{0.5}$	3951	20-91	54%	No subjects under 20 years of age. Formula only validated in Chinese individuals. Whole body scanning method does not take into account overlapping and shading body parts [23].

^*Chapter of book unavailable to determine age range and gender.

BSA= body surface area; ELBW = extremely low birth weight; SE = South East.