D. Heber et al., CLINICAL DETECTION OF SARCOPENIC OBESITY BY BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS, The American journal of clinical nutrition, 64(3), 1996, pp. 472-477
To assess whether bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) provides clin
ically useful information on body composition beyond that obtained fro
m measuring height and weight, we clinically classified 306 obese pati
ents (233 females and 73 males) into tertiles of increasing fat-free m
ass estimated by BIA. Because fat-free mass by BIA is an estimate of l
ean body mass, the lowest tertile was clinically defined as sarcopenic
obesity (reduced lean body mass), as contrasted with proportionate or
muscular obesity in the next two tertiles. Fat mass in patients in ea
ch of the above tertiles based on BIA was then compared with fat mass
estimated by using the equations of Garrow and Webster with body mass
index (weight/height(2)). BIA-estimated fat mass was 4.3 kg greater in
tl-le sarcopenic group (n = 102) than predicted from body mass index.
Fat mass predicted by BIA in the proportionate (n = 102) and muscular
(n = 102) groups differed by less than the SEE of fat mass predicted
by BMI. In premenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer BIA
showed a high prevalence of sarcopenic obesity (28/30) in these women
at normal body mass indexes. Thus, BIA may be clinically useful for de
monstrating sarcopenic obesity, but additional studies are needed to d
etermine the metabolic and clinical significance of sarcopenic obesity
.