A Comparison of Skinfold Measures Versus Infrared Interactance as Measures of Body Composition in Hemodialysis Patients
Objective: Compare the use of skinfold measures (SFM) and infrared interactance (IRI) measurements to determine percent body fat (% BF) in a stable adult hemodialysis (HD) population. Determine if IRI was statistically comparable to the widely accepted anthropometric measurer (SFM) of body composition. Design: Nonrandomized screening by established criteria; voluntary participation. Setting: Six free-standing, outpatient dialysis clinics. Patients: One hundred nineteen stable adult HD patients (64 men and 55 women age 18 to 86 years) including 8 blacks, 21 Native Americans, 10 Hispanics, and 80 Caucasians. Intervention: Each subject was measured once for % BF by SFM and IRI after a regularly scheduled HD treatment per established protocol. Main outcome measures: Comparison of SFM as criterion standard with IRI. Results: Correlation of r = 0.734 ( P Conclusions: Because the validity of IRI in the healthy population is still under investigation, further research is indicated before IRI is considered to be a useful tool for HD patients.