Correlation of Subcutaneous Fat Measured on Ultrasound with Body Mass Index

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is used for the assessment of obesity and overweight worldwide. When body fat is increased BMI is also increased. Ultrasound is a reliable method to assess body fat. We have selected only one suprapubic region for the assessment of fat which is very easy to measure even in routine pelvic and abdominal ultrasound examination. During our routine examination, we can measure abdominal fat and inform the patient about his/her health state regarding obesity. It was a hypothesis that increases in abdominal subcutaneous fat will increase in BMI. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to correlate subcutaneous fats measured on ultrasound with BMI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study, which was performed in Gilani ultrasound center, Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 384 participants were included with simple random sampling technique. Individuals of 16–60 years age of both genders were included in that study. Pregnant ladies, athletes, children, and elderly participants were not included in that study. Toshiba (Xario) and Mindray (Z5) ultrasound machine were used for subcutaneous fats measurement. Participants were scanned in the supine position. Subcutaneous fats were measured on the suprapubic region in three different trials. Compression was avoided. Compression artifacts were avoided by applying more quantity of gel between transducer and skin. Stadiometer was used for the measurement of weight and height. To calculate BMI, Quetelet index was used. BMI was calculated with that formula BMI = weight (kg) divided by height (m(2)). RESULTS: The result was made by calculation of mean and standard deviation. We calculated Pearson correlation between BMI and subcutaneous fats measured on ultrasound at the suprapubic region. It showed a significant high correlation between BMI and subcutaneous fat (P = 0.0000 which is < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There is a significantly high correlation between BMI and subcutaneous fat measured on ultrasound. Ultrasound is a reliable method to assess subcutaneous fat. It can be a predictor of obesity like BMI.