Evaluation Of Leg-to-leg Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis In Assessing Body Composition Of High-school Wrestlers

Abstract

PUPOSE To evaluate the accuracy of leg-to-leg bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in assessing FFM using the TANITA: TBF-300WA in comparison to hydrostatic weighing (HW) and skinfolds (SK) in high-school (HS) wrestlers in hydrated state. METHODS Body composition was determined by BIA, HW, and 3-site (SK) in 129 HS wrestlers (Mean ± SD, age: 15.5 ± 1.3, height 1.70 ± 0.08 m, body mass 65.6 ± 13.1 kg). For all methods, body density (Db) was converted to percent body fat (%BF) using the Brozek equation. Hydration state was quantified by evaluating urine specific gravity. RESULTS There were no significant differences for estimated fat-free mass (FFM) between BIA (56.9 ±8.4 kg) and HW (56.2 ± 9.9 kg) or between SK (56.1 ± 8.9 kg) and HW. The standard errors of estimate for FFM with HW as the reference method were 3.64 kg for BIA and 1.97 kg for SK. Significant correlations were found for FFM between HW and BIA (r = 0.93, P < 0.001), and between HW and SK BIA (r = 0.98, P < 0.001). The FFM difference between BIA and HW was significantly correlated with the FFM average of the two methods (r = −0.39, P < 0.001). The FFM difference between SK and HW was also significantly correlated with the FFM average (r = −0.44, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that the TANITA: TBF-300WA BIA analyzer estimates FFM within an acceptable range when compared to HW in a high-school wrestlers.