Reliability of near-infrared interactance body fat assessment relative to standard anthropometric techniques

doi:10.1016/0895-4356(95)00052-6

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

Volume 48, Issue 11, November 1995, Pages 1361-1367

https://doi.org/10.1016/0895-4356(95)00052-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

We examined the repeatability of near-infrared interactance (NIR) body fat determination as compared with that of body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist girth. Thirty-nine volunteers (16 men, 23 women) had percent body fat (%BF) measurements made with a portable NIR device as well as the standard anthropometric indices of height, weight, waist girth, and hip circumference. Frame size and physical activity levels were also determined. For each participant, three independent measurements of each index were made by two trained readers during a 2-week period. The two readers varied significantly in their measurement of %BF and hip circumference. The variability in %BF was largely due to differences between the first and the second measurements, and only for one of the readers. Second and third measurements were not statistically significantly different for either reader, suggestive of a training effect. Variance component calculations revealed that the reliability of NIR is 95.3%, compared with 99.9% for BMI; 93.4% for waist girth; and 82.4% for WHR, with the majority of the remaining variance accounted for by the method itself. We conclude that the NIR method has good repeatability, with low intra- and interobserver variability, provided that readers are carefully trained. However, the NIR device offers little advantage in reliability over conventional measures of adiposity such as waist girth or BMI, and requires additional input of weight, height, frame size, physical activity level, age, and gender data to calculate %BF. Associations of NIR and other anthropometric indices with cardiovascular risk factors in this population will provide additional insight into the merit of NIR body fat assessment.

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Citation Excerpt :
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Objective: Serial nutritional assessment of dialysis patients is important because of the high incidence and prevalence of malnutrition in these patients. Near-infrared interactance (NIR) technology may provide a practical and reliable method to evaluate body fat and its changes over time in dialysis patients.
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Conclusion: The NIR, which can be performed within seconds, may serve as a reliable and practical tool for objective measurements of nutritional status in hemodialysis patients. The NIR not only seems to have a high degree of reproducibility but may also be an optimal tool to detect longitudinal changes in body fat over time. The NIR measurement is independent of the fluid status in dialysis patients. More comparative and longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the validity of NIR measurements in longitudinal evaluation of dialysis patients.

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Original articleReliability of near-infrared interactance body fat assessment relative to standard anthropometric techniques

Abstract

Am J Clin Nutr

Lancet

Diabetes Res Clin Prac

Am J Clin Nutr

Am J Clin Nutr

Obesity and hypertension: Experimental data

J Hypertension

Prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity at different levels urbanization in Vanuatu

Med J Australia

Correlation of waist to hip ratio to the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in black females

J Natl Med Assoc

Epidemiology, obesity, and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Epidemiol Rev

Validity of single-site and multi-site models for estimating body composition of women using near-infrared interactance

Am J Hum Biol

Original article
Reliability of near-infrared interactance body fat assessment relative to standard anthropometric techniques