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Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Comparison of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, air displacement plethysmography and bioelectrical impedance analysis for the assessment of body composition in morbidly obese women

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 67, pages 1129–1132 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

We evaluated the agreement of air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for the assessment of percent fat mass (%FM) in morbidly obese women.

Subjects/Methods:

Fifty-seven women aged 19–55 years and with a body mass index (BMI) ranging from 37.3 to 55.2 kg/m2 were studied. Values of %FM were obtained directly from ADP and DXA, whereas for BIA we estimated fat-free mass (FFM) from an equation for morbidly obese subjects and calculated %FM as (weight−FFM)/weight.

Results:

The mean (s.d.) difference between ADP and DXA for the assessment of %FM was −2.4% (3.3%) with limits of agreement (LOA) from −8.8% to 4.1%. The mean (s.d.) difference between BIA and DXA for the assessment of %FM was 1.7% (3.3%) with LOA from −4.9% to 8.2%.

Conclusion:

ADP–DXA and BIA–DXA are not interchangeable methods for the assessment of body composition in morbidly obese women.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the women for their participation in the study. We are also grateful to the head nurse and the nursing staff at the Division of Metabolic Diseases of Istituto Auxologico Italiano (Verbania, Italy), and to Dr Alessandra Patrizi for their help with the recruitment of women. The study was supported by Progetti di Ricerca Corrente, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Verbania and Milan, Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Liver Research Center, AREA Science Park, Trieste, Italy

    G Bedogni

  2. International Center for the Assessment of Nutritional Status (ICANS), University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    G Bedogni

  3. Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Experimental Laboratory for Auxo-endocrinological Research, Milano, Italy

    F Agosti, A De Col, N Marazzi & A Sartorio

  4. Division of Medicine, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Verbania, Italy

    A Tagliaferri

  5. Division of Metabolic Diseases, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Verbania, Italy

    A Sartorio

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  1. G Bedogni
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Correspondence to G Bedogni.

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Bedogni, G., Agosti, F., De Col, A. et al. Comparison of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, air displacement plethysmography and bioelectrical impedance analysis for the assessment of body composition in morbidly obese women. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 1129–1132 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.159

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