Abstract

Background: The measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) is important for determining osteoporosis. The novel bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) presented herein provides a new body composition measurement function: bone density measurement. The purpose of this studywas to evaluate the accuracy of a novel bioimpedance method for whole-body BMD measurement in postmenopausal women in Taiwan.

Methods: Menopausal women in Taiwan were recruited as subjects. The standing foot-to-foot bioimpedance analyzer StarBIA201 (Starbia meditek Co., Taichung City, Taiwan) was used to measure whole-body bone density, and the results were compared with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements. The consistency of the 2 methods was evaluated through Pearson correlation, linear regression, and Bland-Altman analysis. Differences in whole-body BMD between groups with different obesity levels were analyzed using univariate Bonferroni-corrected analysis. A total of 74 postmenopausal women with a mean age of 66.5 ± 8.6 years, men height of 156.3 ± 4.7 cm, and mean weight of 58.6 ± 9.2 kg were included in the study.

Results: The mean whole body BMD measured by BIA (1.05 ± 0.06 g/cm2) was significantly higher than by DXA (0.99 ± 0.13 g/cm2). The correlation coefficient between the 2 devices for total body BMD in all subjects was 0.609. When the body mass index (BMI) was < 25 kg/m2, BIA overestimated BMD by 0.06 g/cm2. When the BMI was > 25 kg/m2, BIA overestimated BMD by 0.05 g/cm2. The limit of agreement in the Bland-Altman plots was -0.170 to 0.248 g/cm2.

Conclusion: For postmenopausal women, BIA provides a rapid, convenient, and safe method for preliminary screening of whole-body BMD.