A COMPARISON OF SKINFOLD ANTHROPOMETRY AND BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS FOR MEASURING PERCENTAGE BODY-FAT IN PATIENTS WITH CIRRHOSIS

Percentage body fat was determined by skinfold anthropometry and bioel ectrical impedance analysis in 60 patients with cirrhosis, 30 of whom had overt fluid retention, and in 60 age- and sex-matched healthy volu nteers. In the control population the mean+/-1SD percentage body fat a ssessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis, 22.6+/-6.5%, and skinf old anthropometry, 22.5+/-6.9%, were comparable. However, there was co nsiderable variation in individual values such that measurements made using bioelectrical impedance analysis could be from 9% less to 8% mor e than the corresponding anthropometric values. In patients with cirrh osis the mean percentage body fat assessed using bioelectrical impedan ce analysis, 24.4+/-8.9%, was significantly greater than the value obt ained using skinfold anthropometry, 20.3+/-8.4% (p<0.01) for the whole group and for the subgroup of patients with fluid retention, 24.5+/-8 .5% cf. 18.4+/-7.1% (p<0.005); estimates of body fat in the subgroup o f patients without overt fluid retention were comparable between metho ds, 24.4+/-9.4% cf. 22.1+/-9.2%. In the whole patient group individual measurements made using bioelectrical impedance analysis could be fro m 10% less to 18% more than the corresponding anthropometric values; s imilar degrees of variation in individual values were observed in the two patient subgroups. Bioelectrical impedance analysis should not be used interchangeably with skinfold anthropometry for assessment of per centage body fat in patients with cirrhosis, irrespective of their sta te of hydration. (C) Journal of Hepatology.