Body fat percent assessment between electrical impedance myography and dual X-ray absorptiometry

OBJECTIVES: To compare total and regional body fat percent (BF%) measurements obtained using a handheld electrical impedance myography (EIM) device in comparison to BF% measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

METHODS: Sixty-nine male and female (33 males/36 females; age = 21.9 ± 2.0 years, body mass index = 24.5 ± 3.6 kg/m 2 ) college-age individuals participated in this study. Each participant's total and regional (ie, upper arms, upper legs, trunk) BF% was estimated using EIM and DXA. Metallic markers were used to delineate regional boundaries for analysis, including upper arms (biceps/triceps), upper legs (quadriceps/hamstrings), and trunk (abdominal region/low back region). Paired t-tests assessed the accuracy of BF% values estimated from EIM in comparison to BF% measured by DXA.

RESULTS: Observations revealed EIM reported significantly lower BF% for upper left arm (P < .001), upper right arm (P < .001), upper right leg (P = .002), and trunk (P < .001) values. However, no significant differences were observed in total (P = .434) and upper left leg (P = .855) BF% between the two devices.

CONCLUSIONS: This study's observations suggest that, EIM may be an accurate field method for measuring total BF%, but not regional BF%.