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Comparison of body fat-free masses calculated from hand-to-foot and foot-to-foot resistances with DXA measurements

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Abstract

This article compares the determination of body fat-free-mass (FFM) by impedance, using either hand-to-foot resistance (R13) or foot-to-foot one (R34) from comparison with dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements in a normal population. The first goal was to see if the foot-to-foot resistance used in body fat analysers provides less accurate information for body FFM than the hand-to-foot one used by medical impedance-meters. Another goal was to compare the prediction accuracy of six different regression equations of FFM for each sex and for each resistance relatively to DXA. The impedancemeter used in this study was a Tefal prototype with 4 plantar electrodes and 4 additional electrodes for the hands and providing hand-to-foot and foot-to-foot resistances. Coefficients of these correlations were determined by comparison with FFM measured by DXA in a 1st cohort of 170 healthy adults. For an independent validation, these equations were tested in a 2nd cohort of 86 adults who underwent the same impedance and DXA protocols, using Student’s paired t-tests. The accuracy of FFM prediction increased generally with the number of physiologic parameters included in the regression, but none of our equations gave FFM predictions significantly different from DXA. FFM calculated from the foot-to-foot resistance were closer to DXA values than those calculated from hand-to-foot resistance, as their average P-value of comparison with DXA was higher at 0.695 against 0.387 for R13.

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Abbreviations

BIS:

Bioimpedance spectroscopy

BMI:

Body mass index (kg m−2)

DXA:

Dual X-ray absorptiometry

FFI:

Foot-to-foot impedancemeter

FFM:

Fat-free mass

FM:

Fat tissue mass

SD:

Standard deviation

H:

Subject height (m)

R13 :

Hand-to-foot resistance (Ω)

R34 :

Foot-to-foot resistance (Ω)

W:

Body weight (kg)

X:

Reactance (Ω)

d:

DXA

i:

Impedance

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the cooperation of the Centre d’Imagerie Médicale Avancée (CIMA) of Compiègne for DXA measurements and the supply of a prototype impedance-meter by Tefal SAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Engineering, Technological University of Compiègne, UMR CNRS 6600, BP 20529, 60205, Compiègne Cedex, France

    Sana Bousbiat, Michel Y. Jaffrin & Edwige Dongmo

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  1. Sana Bousbiat
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  2. Michel Y. Jaffrin
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  3. Edwige Dongmo
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Correspondence to Michel Y. Jaffrin.

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Bousbiat, S., Jaffrin, M.Y. & Dongmo, E. Comparison of body fat-free masses calculated from hand-to-foot and foot-to-foot resistances with DXA measurements. Med Biol Eng Comput 49, 1329–1336 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-011-0827-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-011-0827-y

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