A Validation of a Handheld Ultrasound Device to Assess Body Composition in College-Aged Adults

INTRODUCTION: Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is a major contributor to both cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes. In result, there has been an increase in new technology being introduced into the field of body composition assessment. Recently, a new ultrasound (US) device was created to estimate body composition. However, to date, only one study exists comparing this device to other established and validated body composition assessment methods. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of an Ultrasound System (US), and compare it to Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) and Air Displacement Plethysmography (ADP) in estimating Percent Body Fat (%BF), Fat Free Mass (FFM), and Fat Mass (FM) in college-aged students. METHODS: Eighty-four participants volunteered for this study. All participants were instructed to adhere to the following pretest protocol: 1) No food or drink 2 hours prior 2) Avoid strenuous exercise 24 hours prior to the test 3) Wear tight fitting clothing (i.e. lycra or spandex material). Body composition was assessed using the US, DEXA, and ADP in which all measurements obtained were performed in accordance with manufacture’s guidelines. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni adjustments to compare differences in %BF, FFM and FM between DEXA to ADP, DEXA to US, and US to ADP. The significance level for all comparisons was set to p < 0.05. RESULTS: The DEXA was greater (25.5 ± 8.5%) vs US (21.6 ± 6.29%) and ADP (19.4 ± 7.5%), p = 0.000, when measuring %BF and the US was greater (21.7 ± 6.6%) vs ADP (19.9 ± 7.9%), p < 0.03, when measuring %BF. The DEXA was greater (37.35 ± 14.97 pounds) vs US (39.38 ± 11.9 pounds) and ADP (30.58 ± 16.18 pounds), p < 0.000 when measuring FM. However, there was no significant difference in FM between US vs ADP.CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated significant differences between the DEXA, US and ADP when estimating %BF, and FM in college-aged students. This may be due to the measurement methodology, between machines. Therefore, further investigation is warranted.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physical Education-Exercise Physiology/Adult Fitness

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Akron

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Johnson, Kelly Eugene

Contributors dc:contributor

• Juvancic-Heltzel, Judith

• Physiology
• Bodymetric Ultrasound Device
• DEXA
• BodPod
• Pecent Body Fat
• Fat Mass

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1362846764

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:akron1362846764