Body composition assessment in athletes: Comparison of a novel ultrasound technique to traditional skinfold measures and criterion DXA measure

Allister C. Gomes, Grant J. Landers, Martyn J. Binnie, Paul S.R. Goods, Sacha K. Fulton, Timothy R. Ackland

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: This investigation compared ultrasound and skinfolds as measures of body fat for athletes, relative to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Design: Fifty-six well-trained athletes from various sports participated in a cross-sectional study. Methods: The participants attended one testing session, where total body fat mass was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and subcutaneous adipose tissue was measured using brightness-mode ultrasound and skinfolds with callipers. The ultrasound and skinfold measures were correlated independently against standardised fat mass from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: The correlation between standardised fat mass and sum-of-eight (Σ8) sites ultrasound (r = 0.959, p < 0.001), and with sum-of-seven (Σ7) sites skinfolds (r = 0.911, p < 0.001), were both high positive correlations. In the lowest quartile by fat proportion, the correlation between standardised fat mass and Σ8 ultrasound (r = 0.811, p < 0.001) was a high positive correlation, whilst the correlation with Σ7 skinfolds (r = 0.652, p = 0.011) was a moderate positive correlation. In the highest quartile by fat proportion, the correlation between standardised fat mass and Σ8 ultrasound (r = 0.847, p < 0.001) was a high positive correlation, whilst the correlation with Σ7 skinfolds (r = 0.591, p = 0.026) was a moderate positive correlation. Conclusions: Ultrasound and skinfolds are both very good methods to accurately assess body composition in athletes, relative to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. However, ultrasound delivered consistently more accurate results, throughout a broad athletic spectrum.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1006-1010
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Volume23
Issue number11
Early online date24 Apr 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2020

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