Aging Clinical and Experimental Research · Oct 16, 2021
Agreement between multifrequency BIA and DXA for assessing segmental appendicular skeletal muscle mass in older adults
By Herda AA, Cleary CJ
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.