Assessing nutritional status in older adults requiring long‐term care: Interchangeability of bioelectrical impedance analysis and manual methods for upper arm anthropometric measurements

Abstract

In older adults, arm circumference and arm muscle circumference are common nutritional assessment tools. Bioelectrical impedance analysis devices can automatically measure arm circumference and arm muscle circumference. However, the interchangeability of the measurements made by bioelectrical impedance analysis with the actual manual measurements has not been clarified. This study examined the interchangeability of these two measurements and their relationship with sarcopenia. Methods:The interchangeability between bioelectrical impedance analysis and manual arm circumference and arm muscle circumference measurements was calculated using Bland-Altman analysis in 112 older adults certified to require long-term care in the Japanese system. Furthermore, multivariate analysis was used to investigate the association between arm circumference and arm muscle circumference obtained using the bioelectrical impedance analysis method and sarcopenia. Results:The bioelectrical impedance analysis and manual methods were interchangeable, with a percentage error of <15% (arm circumference 13.54% and arm muscle circumference 13.54%) for the upper arm anthropometric measurement. In multivariate analysis, decreased arm muscle circumference was significantly associated with sarcopenia risk.Conclusions: Values obtained using the bioelectrical impedance analysis method were interchangeable with the values obtained using manual measurement. This shows that upper arm anthropometric measurement using bioelectrical impedance analysis might be useful as a nutritional assessment tool for older adults requiring long-term care. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 938-942.

Comparison of the adequacy of geriatric nutritional risk index with that of the mini nutritional assessment-short form and global leadership initiative on malnutrition criteria in assessing nutritional status to predict the 1-year prognosis of hospitalized Japanese older adults: a single-institutional cohort study

“…Fourth, a plastic adipometer was used for obtaining anthropometric measurements. Similar kits were used in previous studies [29,30], and a certain amount of evidence showed that the kits obtained accurate measurements. This kit was also used in this study; however, its accuracy and validity were not sufficient.…”

Leg skeletal muscle mass asymmetry is independently associated with gait speed in older adults requiring long‐term care

“…As a result, the cutoff value of the asymmetry index was 3.02% when the criterion value for reduced gait speed was set at <1.0 m/s. The asymmetry index of leg skeletal muscle mass can be measured automatically with BIA devices, which have the advantages of being noninvasive, having no inter‐rater error, and needing only a short measurement time 20 . Although the cutoff value of this study has high specificity, the AUC value of 0.62 is low and is not a highly accurate index for detecting a decrease in gait speed.…”

“…The asymmetry index of leg skeletal muscle mass can be measured automatically with BIA devices, which have the advantages of being noninvasive, having no inter-rater error, and needing only a short measurement time. 20 Although the cutoff value of this study has high specificity, the AUC value of 0.62 is low and is not a highly accurate index for detecting a decrease in gait speed. Further investigation, including confounding factors such as balance and leg muscle strength, [6][7][8][9] is needed to clarify the generalizability of this study and the clinical significance of leg skeletal muscle mass asymmetry.…”