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Validity of published prediction equations for body composition in high altitude Bolivian Aymara as evaluated by doubly labeled water
Author(s) -
Kashiwazaki Hiroshi,
Dejima Yasushi,
OriasRivera Jose,
Coward William A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6300(1998)10:3<371::aid-ajhb12>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - hum , anthropometry , mathematics , statistics , zoology , regression analysis , covariate , fat mass , body weight , altitude (triangle) , skinfold thickness , demography , medicine , endocrinology , biology , art , geometry , sociology , performance art , art history
Total body water (TBW), fat‐free mass (FFM), and fat as a percentage of body weight (fat%) were estimated by the doubly labeled water (DLW) technique in 23 healthy rural Bolivian subjects of a typical herding community of the high Andes. Using these values as the frame of reference, validation tests of several prediction equations for TBW and body density were made. Estimated values and errors for TBW, FFM, and fat% varied greatly with prediction equation. Among the prediction equations tested, however, three, Mellits and Cheek (1970; M&C), Durnin and Womersley (1974; D&W) and Conlisk et al. (1992; CNL), had a smaller bias and higher precision than others. Compared to the DLW method, the prediction errors of these equations for FFM and fat% as evaluated by the mean bias and the 95% limits of agreement were −0.7 ± 4.5 kg and 1.5 ± 10% (M&C), 0.9 ± 3.6 kg and −2.1 ± 8.5% (D&W), and 1.1 ± 3.6 kg and −2.7 ± 9.3% (CNL). For most practical purposes, these prediction errors for FFM as percentage of body weight may not be very important, but the errors in fat% may be serious. The interpretation of predicted data thus needs caution. In spite of differences in ethnic background and age range between the subjects and the samples on which the equations were developed, it is interesting that regression equations based on U.S., British and Guatemalan subjects also predicted the body composition of native Bolivian subjects with unexpectedly high precision. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:371–384, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.