Comparison of body composition analysis methods in clinical routine.

Area of Science:

• Clinical assessment
• Body composition analysis
• Medical diagnostics

Background:

• Skinfold thickness (SFT) and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) are common clinical tools for body composition analysis (BCA).
• Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is a precise and accurate method for BCA, increasingly used in recent years.
• Assessing agreement between SFT, BIA, and DEXA is crucial for clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the agreement between skinfold thickness (SFT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) for body fat mass (FM) measurement.
• To assess the agreement between bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and DEXA for body fat mass (FM) measurement.
• To compare these methods in both obese and nonobese women.

Main Methods:

• Body fat mass (FM) was measured in 16 nonobese and 21 obese women.
• Measurements were taken using DEXA, SFT, and BIA in the same morning session.
• Statistical analysis included regression line analysis and Bland and Altman method.

Main Results:

• DEXA, SFT, and BIA yielded mean FM values of 16.3, 15.0, and 14.7 kg in nonobese subjects, respectively.
• In obese patients, mean FM values were 38.8 kg (DEXA), 36.3 kg (SFT), and 37.1 kg (BIA).
• High correlations were found between DEXA-BIA and DEXA-SFT in nonobese subjects, but Bland and Altman analysis revealed a lack of agreement in obese patients. DEXA showed better precision.

Conclusions:

• SFT and BIA are suitable for monitoring body composition in nonobese individuals in clinical settings.
• DEXA is recommended as the preferred method for monitoring body composition in obese patients due to its accuracy and reproducibility.
• The choice of method depends on the patient population (obese vs. nonobese) and the importance of reproducibility.