Validation of bioelectrical impedance analysis in the evaluation of body composition in patients with breast cancer

Abstract

Background:The evaluation of body composition is an essential parameterfor preventing obesity and sarcopenic obesity, which are prognostic factors inbreast cancer. This study aims to validate the bioelectrical impedance analysis(BIA) of women who are breast cancer survivors by using the dual‐energyx‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurement method.Methods:This validation study included 104 women without metastasisbetween 32 and 72 years old (mean 47.03 ± 8.59) whose treatment wascompleted 6 months prior. Body composition analysis was performedsequentially using both measurements and when participants were hungry.Results:Meaningful differences were found in fat‐free mass (FFM)(BIA: 46.57 ± 5.54 kg; DXA: 41.06 ± 5.11 kg), body fat percentage (%BF)(BIA: 34.28% ± 6.24%; DXA: 43.91% ± 5.58%), body fat mass (FM) (BIA:25.37 ± 8.84 kg; DXA: 31.24 ± 9.09 kg), and lean soft tissue mass (LSTM) (BIA:4.42 ± 5.66 kg; DXA: 38.75 ± 4.98 kg) (P< 0.001). Powerful associations forbody FM and strong associations for other parameters were seen. A constantand/or proportional error was found between the two devices within thedirection of strong and solid components. Compared with DXA, the BIAmeasurement gives a lower estimate of %BF and FM and a higher estimate ofLSTM and FFM.Conclusions:By the mathematical relationship between the two measure-ment methods, it seems possible to adapt the body composition parametersobtained from BIA of patients with breast cancer to DXA results. In the future,there will be a need to evaluate these two devices with more extensive studies.