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Within-day variability of whole-body and segmental bioelectrical impedance in a standing position

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 938–941 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To assess the variation in whole-body and segmental bioelectrical impedance measured in the standing position over the course of a day.

Subjects:

Sixteen healthy men aged 29.6±3.1 years participated in this study.

Measurement:

Impedance between the hands (ZH–H), the feet (ZF–F), and the both hands and feet (ZH–F) was measured using a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) data acquisition system at 500 μA and 50 kHz. Body weight, ZH–H, ZF–F and ZH–F were measured every 3 h from 0900 to 1800.

Results:

Body weight was slightly, but significantly, changed at 1200 (−0.4±0.4 kg, P<0.05), 1500 (+0.4±0.3 kg, P<0.05) and 1800 (−0.2±0.2 kg, P<0.05) compared to their respective previous measurement values. ZH–H significantly increased (P<0.05) and ZF–F significantly decreased (P<0.05) over the course of a day. The mean changes in impedance from 0900 to 1800 were +27.2 Ω (ZH–H) and −31.8 Ω (ZF–F), respectively. There were no changes in ZH–H at 1500 and in ZF–F at 1800 compared to their respective previous measurement values. The ZH–F value did not change significantly between 0900 and 1800.

Conclusion:

Although changes in standing whole-body impedance during the day are small, arm and leg segmental impedance measurements change significantly. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the impedance at regularly scheduled times when evaluating whole-body %fat or body water content using the segmental BIA method.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the operators of the Sakazaki Clinic for their help with the DXA examinations. We also thank all the subjects for their participation in the study.

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  1. Research and Development Department, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd, Kyoto, Japan

    Y Oshima & T Shiga

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  1. Y Oshima
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  2. T Shiga
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Correspondence to Y Oshima.

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Guarantor: Y Oshima.

Contributors: Both authors took part in data collection and/or analysis and contributed to the final version of the manuscript.

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Oshima, Y., Shiga, T. Within-day variability of whole-body and segmental bioelectrical impedance in a standing position. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 938–941 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602402

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