Body composition in male elite athletes, comparison of bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Ulla Svantesson¹ , Martina Zander² , Sofia Klingberg² and Frode Slinde²^,3

¹Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

²Department of Clinical Nutrition, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

³School of Life Sciences, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine 2008, 7:1doi:10.1186/1477-5751-7-1


Published:	22 January 2008

Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to compare body composition results from bioelectrical spectroscopy (BIS) with results from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in a population of male elite athletes. Body composition was assessed using DXA (Lunar Prodigy, GE Lunar Corp., Madison, USA) and BIS (Hydra 4200, Xitron Technologies Inc, San Diego, California, USA) at the same occasion. Agreement between methods was assessed using paired t-tests and agreement-plots.

Results

Thirty-three male elite athletes (soccer and ice hockey) were included in the study. The results showed that BIS underestimates the proportion of fat mass by 4.6% points in the ice hockey players. In soccer players the BIS resulted in a lower mean fat mass by 1.1% points. Agreement between the methods at the individual level was highly variable.

Conclusion

Body composition results assessed by BIS in elite athletes should be interpreted with caution, especially in individual subjects. BIS may present values of fat mass that is either higher or lower than fat mass assessed by DXA, independent of true fat content of the individual.