Measurement of visceral fat and abdominal obesity by single-frequency bioelectrical impedance and CT: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesThe measurement of visceral fat (VF) is clinically important for the identification of individuals at high risk of visceral obesity-related health conditions. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a widely available and frequently used body composition assessment method, but there have been few validation studies for the measurement of VF. This validation study investigated agreement between BIA and CT for the assessment of VF in adults.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingBetween 2015 and 2016 in China.ParticipantsA total of 414 adults (119 men and 295 women) aged 40–82 years.Primary and secondary outcome measuresCT-visceral fat area (VFA) was derived at the L2-3 and umbilicus level and VFA cut-offs for visceral obesity applied. BIA measurements of visceral fat level were compared with CT VFA findings using scatter plots and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves.ResultsScatter plots showed poor agreement between BIA and CT-derived visceral fat measurements in both sexes (R=0.387–0.636). ROC curves gave optimum figures for sensitivity and specificity of 65% and 69% in women and 76% and 70% in men, respectively, for BIA to discriminate between adults with normal levels of VF and those with visceral obesity determined by CT.ConclusionBIA has limited accuracy for the assessment of VF in adults in practice when compared with the criterion method.

The Optimal Axial Anatomical Site for a Single-Slice Area to Quantify the Total Volume of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Quantitative CT

“…Abdominal fat quantifications can be measured accurately using computed tomography (CT) (11)(12)(13)(14), quantitative CT (QCT) (15)(16)(17), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (18,19), and bio-impedance analysis (BIA) (17). However, CT scan delivers radiation dosage exposure on patients and MRI in the assessment of VAT quantification is restricted by its time consuming and high costs.…”

“…However, CT scan delivers radiation dosage exposure on patients and MRI in the assessment of VAT quantification is restricted by its time consuming and high costs. QCT may have relatively better performance than BIA in identifying individuals at high risk of visceral obesity-related health conditions ( 17 ). Thus, establishing a practical alternative method to estimate abdominal fat content is urgently needed.…”

The Role of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis in Predicting COVID-19 Outcome

“…Finally, although BIA measurements have satisfactory insight into total body fat and fat-free mass and are widely used for body composition assessment in the general population, this method has difficulty distinguishing visceral from abdominal fat, for which CT and MRI remain the gold standard ( 36 , 37 ). Due to stated study limitations and presented results, the authors suggest and encourage continuing research on this issue.…”

Modelo De Predição Da Gordura Visceral Relativa Baseado Nas Características Antropométricas De Mulheres Do Programa Do Núcleo De Apoio Saúde Da Família (Nasf) Residentes Em Macapá, Ap

“…No entanto, devido à elevada exposição à radiação e implicações de custos, além da inacessibilidade a tomografia computadorizada acaba por limitar sua aplicação (EICKEMBERG et al, 2013), tornando-se uma problemática na avaliação da AVA. Nesse sentido, recentes estudos têm conduzido na busca por técnicas menos sofisticadas e de menor custo para quantificar a adiposidade visceral (XU et al, 2021;CHAUDRY et al, 2020;MANGLA et al, 2020;ADEDIA et al, 2020). Entre os métodos estudados, temos a análise por impedância bioelétrica (BIA), baseada na estimativa da água corporal total, tem sido difundido no estudo da composição corporal, o que se pode atribuir à simplicidade das medidas, confiabilidade inter e intra-avaliador, o menor desconforto durante a avaliação (WARD, 2019).…”