Cited by 45Body Composition Measurement TechniquesSports Performance and TrainingThermoregulation and physiological responses

Generalized bioelectric impedance‐based equations underestimate body fluids in athletes

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Coratella, Giuseppe, Campa, Francesco, Matias, Catarina N., Toselli, Stefania, Koury, Josely C., Andreoli, Angela, Sardinha, Lui­s B., Silva, Analiza M.·2021·Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports

Abstract

The current study aimed: (i) to external validate total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW) derived from athlete and non‐athlete predictive equations using radioisotope dilution techniques as a reference criterion in male and female athletes; (ii) in a larger sample, to determine the agreement between specific and generalized equations when estimating body fluids in male and female athletes practicing different sports. A total of 1371 athletes (men: n = 921, age 23.9 ± 1.4 y; women: n = 450, age 27.3 ± 6.8 y) participated in this study. All athletes underwent bioelectrical impedance analyses, while TBW and ECW were assessed with dilution techniques in a subgroup of 185 participants (men: n = 132, age 21.7 ± 5.1 y; women: n = 53, age 20.3 ± 4.5 y). Two specific and eight generalized predictive equations were tested. Compared to the criterion methods, no mean bias was observed using the athlete‐specific equations for TBW and ECW (−0.32 to 0.05, p > 0.05) and the coefficient of determination ranged from R2 = 0.83 to 0.94. The majority of the generalized predictive equations underestimated TBW and ECW (p < 0.05); R2 ranged from 0.66 to 0.89. In the larger sample, all the generalized equations showed lower TBW and ECW values (ranging from −6.58 to −0.19, p < 0.05) than specific predictive equations; except for TBW in female power/velocity (one equation) athletes and team sport (two equations). The use of generalized BIA‐based equations leads to an underestimation of TBW, and ECW compared to athlete‐specific predictive equations. Additionally, the larger sample indicates that generalized equations overall provided lower TBW and ECW compared to the athlete‐specific equations.

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  1. [4]Schoeller D. Hydrometry. In: Heymsfield SB, Lohman TG, Wang ZM, Going SB eds. Human Body Composition. Human kinetics; 2005: 35‐ 49.

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Authors
Coratella, G., Campa, F., Matias, C. N., Toselli, S., Koury, J. C., Andreoli, A., Sardinha, L. B., & Silva, A. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Milan (IT)
  • University of Bologna (IT)
  • Universidade Lusófona (PT)
  • Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (BR)
  • Department of Systems Medicine University of Tor Vergata Rome Italy
  • University of Lisbon (PT)
Corresponding author
Campa, Francesco
Venue
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2021-08-19
Volume
31
Issue
11
Pages
2123-2132
ISSN
  • 0905-7188 (ISSN-L)
  • 1600-0838
OpenAlex
W3190488261
Cited by
45
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 2
FWCI
4.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Cineca Institutional Research Information System (Tor Vergata University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
Keywords
bioelectrical impedance analysis, total body water, extracellular water, equation validation, radioisotope dilution, sex differences, sport
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Body Composition, Body Water, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Electric Impedance, Young Adult, Athletes

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