Validity and reliability of an ultrasound system for estimating adipose tissue

Abstract

When health professionals measure the fitness levels of clients, body composition is usually estimated. In field settings, body composition is commonly estimated with skinfolds or bioelectrical impedance analysis. Recently, a portable ultrasound device has been manufactured to estimate what percentage of body mass is composed of adipose tissue (AT%). A reported advantage of using ultrasound is that inter- and intrarater variations may be minimized when compared with the skinfold technique. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was twofold; 1) to determine the validity of a portable ultrasound device compared with skinfolds and 2) determine the reliability of the portable ultrasound device. Participants had their measurements taken in the following order: urine specific gravity, body mass, height, skinfolds and ultrasound determined. Participants had their urine specific gravity and ultrasound determined AT% estimates measured again 48 h later. The current pilot study found that the ultrasound was not a valid estimate of AT% when compared with the skinfold estimate (TE > 4%). In addition, the 1-site estimate from the ultrasound was more reliable than the 3-site estimate of AT%. These data are of importance to practitioners because it demonstrates that while the ultrasound is not a valid estimate compared with skinfolds, the 1-site estimate may be able to track changes in AT% over time, making the ultrasound an option for assessing changes in body composition.

Portable A‐Mode Ultrasound for Body Composition Assessment in Adolescents

“…For young adults, underestimated BF% values on US were also reported by Ulbricht et al, 3 Johnson et al, 8 Neves et al, 9 Loenneke et al, 12 and Lyon et al 20 Smith‐Ryan et al 13 tested the reproducibility and validity of US in 47 overweight and obese adults in comparison to air displacement plethysmography and bioelectrical impedance, again finding underestimated BF% values. These divergences highlight the need for testing portable US technology in different groups of participants to ensure its use in clinical practice.…”

Agreement between ultrasound and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in assessing percentage body fat in college‐aged adults

“…These include ULTRA compared to BIA and ADP (Johnson et al, 2012) and SF using one-site and three-site (Loenneke et al, 2013), seven-site (Lyon et al, 2006) and nine-site (Ulbricht et al, 2012) methodologies. These include ULTRA compared to BIA and ADP (Johnson et al, 2012) and SF using one-site and three-site (Loenneke et al, 2013), seven-site (Lyon et al, 2006) and nine-site (Ulbricht et al, 2012) methodologies.…”

“…These include ULTRA compared to BIA and ADP (Johnson et al, 2012) and SF using one-site and three-site (Loenneke et al, 2013), seven-site (Lyon et al, 2006) and nine-site (Ulbricht et al, 2012) methodologies. Loenneke et al (2013) compared one-site and three-site ULTRA methodology to a three-site, sex-specific SF methodology in college-aged sample (BMI = 24 kg m À2 ). Strong correlations were observed between ULTRA and BIA (r = 0Á862) and ADP (r = 0Á879).…”

“…Thus, this BCA method has been proposed as a possible alternative in the general population as well as in specific population subsets based on weight, age or ethnic categories (Pineau et al, 2007(Pineau et al, , 2009Stolk et al, 2008;Utter & Hager, 2008;Johnson et al, 2012;Wagner, 2013). Wagner (2013) and Loenneke et al (2013) have called for more valid and reliable studies of the BodyMetrix â BX-2000 ultrasound system compared to a laboratory-based criterion, such as DXA, due to limited research about this equipment being conducted on a multitude of different population subsets. Similarly, Stolk et al (2008) found that ULTRA was a reliable BCA method, demonstrating a moderate correlation with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a strong correlation when compared to computed tomography (CT) in a sample of obese men and women.…”

“…Pineau et al (2007) found a strong correlation in both males and females for %BF when compared to the DXA in a sample of overweight middleaged men and women. To our knowledge, only four studies (Lyon et al, 2006;Johnson et al, 2012;Ulbricht et al, 2012;and Loenneke et al, 2013) have investigated the agreement of ULTRA to BIA, ADP, HW and skinfolds, respectively. Wagner (2013) and Loenneke et al (2013) have called for more valid and reliable studies of the BodyMetrix â BX-2000 ultrasound system compared to a laboratory-based criterion, such as DXA, due to limited research about this equipment being conducted on a multitude of different population subsets.…”