Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis and Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry for Total and Segmental Bone Mineral Content with a Three-Compartment Model

Modern bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) provides a wide range of body composition estimates such as fat mass (FM), lean body mass (LBM), and body water, using specific algorithms. Assuming that the fat free mass (FFM) and LBM can be accurately estimated by the 8-electrode BIA analyzer (BIA(8MF); InBody230, Biospace), the bone mineral content (BMC) may be calculated by subtracting the LBM from the FFM estimates based on the three-compartment (3C) model. In this cross-sectional study, 239 healthy Taiwanese adults (106 male and 133 female) aged 20–45 years were recruited for BIA and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of the whole body and body segments, with DXA as the reference. The results showed a high correlation between BIA(8MF) and DXA in estimating total and segmental LBM, FM and percentage body fat (r = 0.909–0.986, 0.757–0.964, and 0.837–0.936, respectively). For BMC estimates, moderate to high correlations (r = 0.425–0.829) between the two methods were noted. The percentage errors and pure errors for BMC estimates between the methods ranged from 33.9% to 93.0% and from 0.159 kg to 0.969 kg, respectively. This study validated that BIA(8MF) can accurately assesses LBM, FM and body fat percentage (BF%). However, the estimation of segmental BMC based on the difference between FFM and LBM in body segments may not be reliable by BIA(8MF).