Agreement of bioelectric impedance analysis and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for body composition evaluation in adults with cystic fibrosis

Malnutrition in cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with increased mortality and can lead to fat-free (FFM) and fat mass (FM) loss. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is used and validated to measure FFM and FM. DXA's high cost has led to the utilization of less costly techniques such as bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). The aim of this study was to determine the agreement of FFM, FM and %FM measurements taken with DXA and BIA in adults with CF. We measured FFM, FM and %FM in 34 adults with CF with a leg-to-leg BIA and an iDXA and determined agreement using Bland–Altman analysis. While DXA and BIA measurements were well correlated (r > 0.8), mean biases between both methods were between 8 and 11%. BIA underestimated FM and %FM and overestimated FFM. In a clinical research setting where these measurements are used to phenotype patients, BIA cannot replace DXA.