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Agreement between multifrequency BIA and DXA for assessing segmental appendicular skeletal muscle mass in older adults

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Abstract

Background

Aging presents changes in muscle mass that may lead to sarcopenia. Identifying safe, quick, and accessible methods to assess muscle mass is imperative.

Aims

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the assessments of appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM), fat-free mass (FFM), and fat mass (FM) between bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Methods

Seventy-three healthy, community-dwelling, physically active males (n = 19) and females (n = 54) (BMI = 27.1 ± 4.3 kg m−2) between the ages of 55–85 years underwent total-body BIA and DXA. ASMM was estimated via BIA from a previously published regression equation while DXA ASMM was calculated as the sum of the measured total arm lean mass and total leg lean mass. Paired-samples t tests with a significance level of p < 0.05 were conducted, while agreement between the methods was assessed via Bland–Altman plots.

Results

In comparison to DXA, the chosen BIA equation overestimated ASMM (21.61 ± 5.82 kg vs. 18.82 ± 4.81 kg) and FFM (49.57 ± 9.94 kg vs. 46.22 ± 10.11 kg) and underestimated FM (24.59 ± 8.28 kg vs. 27.13 ± 10.01 kg), all p < 0.001. Visual inspection of the Bland–Altman plots revealed wide limits of agreement. Female participants were more clustered around the mean than male participants.

Discussion

The multifrequency BIA device and chosen ASMM estimation equation resulted in wide limits of agreement and significantly different comparisons to the reference method of DXA.

Conclusion

Future research should continue to investigate and validate methodologies to screen older individuals for characteristics of aging-related diseases, such as sarcopenia.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

Data collection was made possible by the University new faculty general research fund (NFGRF-2019) University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise and Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences, University of Kansas-Edwards Campus, 12604 Quivira Road, BEST 160, Overland Park, KS, 66213, USA

    Ashley A. Herda & Christopher J. Cleary

Authors
  1. Ashley A. Herda
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  2. Christopher J. Cleary
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Contributions

AAH acquired funding for study supplies and obtained IRB approval. AAH collected the data and design the study design. CJC wrote the first draft of the manuscript with AAH’s oversight and approval. CJC and AAH reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashley A. Herda.

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Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Human Research Protection Program at the University of Kansas (No. STUDY00143495).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Herda, A.A., Cleary, C.J. Agreement between multifrequency BIA and DXA for assessing segmental appendicular skeletal muscle mass in older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 34, 2789–2795 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-02000-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-02000-z

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