Abstract
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and air displacement plethysmography (ADP) are two widely used methods for body composition analysis (BCA). However, little is known about the discrepancies in the results of BCA obtained from the two methods in Chinese population. This study aimed to compare the measurement differences between DXA and ADP in young and middle-aged Chinese adults, and to explore the influential factors of this difference. A total of 186 healthy volunteers (51.1% males) who aged 18-56 years old with body mass index (BMI) of 15.9-35.9kg/m2 were enrolled. Fat mass (FM), fat mass percentage (FMP), and fat-free mass (FFM) were analyzed by both DXA and ADP within 1h. In general, all the BCA measures of DXA and ADP were highly correlated (intraclass correlation coefficient ICC>0.80, P<0.001), while differences were found between the two methods (all P<0.001). At the population level, greater body fat estimates (FM: 1.8±3.1kg in males and 2.2±2.4kg in females; FMP: 2.4±4.2% in males and 3.1±3.5% in females), whereas lower FFM (-0.2±3.1kg in males and-0.9±2.4kg in females) were found for DXA than ADP. Moreover, the average difference in FM and FMP as referred to ADP changed from positive in underweight group to negative in obesity group, and vice versa for FFM. At the individual level, the proportion of relative errors for FM and FMP within ±15% was less than 10% in underweight subjects and over 75% in those with obesity. For FFM, all underweight subjects had a relative error within 15%, and the proportion was 90.5% for obese males and 85.0% for obese females. BCA results by DXA and ADP were highly correlated, but the differences between the two methods were strongly influenced by BMI status at both population and individual levels. Caution should be especially taken when interchanging body fat results measured by the two methods in underweight and obese subjects.
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