Abstract
Objective: Excessive accumulation of visceral fat is considered to be associated with lifestyle-related diseases including diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. If the quantity of visceral fat can be measured easily in human dry dock examinations, it is expected to contribute to early prevention of these disorders. We have, therefore, developed a new method for the measurement of visceral fat using the bioelectrical impedance (abdominal bioelectrical impedance); this method will be an alternative to conventional abdominal CT. The aim of this study was to confirm on the basis of clinical data the principles and the accuracy of this method in estimating the quantity of visceral fat. Methods: We examined using multivariate analysis the correlations of the abdominal impedance measured by this method with the visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and total fat area determined by abdominal CT and the correlations of the residual error (difference between the VFA determined by abdominal CT and the VFA estimated by this method) with the VFA, SFA, VFA/SFA ratio, height, body weight, body mass index, waist girth, and age. Results: The correlation between the abdominal impedance determined by this method with the SFA was small, indicating that this method effectively excludes the effects of subcutaneous fat on the estimation of the VFA. A correlation between the residual error and age was observed. This suggests that the accuracy of estimation of the VFA can be improved by incorporating the age in the estimation equation and, thus, canceling the correlation. Conclusions: This body-fat measuring apparatus is expected to provide support to human dry dock examinations as a new obesity testing instrument.
