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. 2021 Jun 12;10(6):524.
doi: 10.3390/biology10060524.

Specific Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis Identifies Body Fat Reduction after a Lifestyle Intervention in Former Elite Athletes

Francesco Campa  1 , Catarina Nunes Matias  2   3 , Catarina L Nunes  4 , Cristina P Monteiro  5 , Rubén Francisco  4 , Filipe Jesus  4 , Elisabetta Marini  6 , Luís B Sardinha  4 , Paulo Martins  4 , Cláudia Minderico  4 , Analiza M Silva  4
Affiliations

Specific Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis Identifies Body Fat Reduction after a Lifestyle Intervention in Former Elite Athletes

Francesco Campa et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: specific bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) has been proposed as an alternative bioimpedance method for evaluating body composition. This investigation aimed to verify the ability of specific BIVA in identifying changes in fat mass after a 16-week lifestyle program in former athletes.

Methods: The 94 participants included in the Champ4life project (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03031951) were randomized into intervention (n = 49) and control (n = 45) groups, from which 82 athletes completed the intervention (age 43.9 ± 9.2 y; body mass index 31.1 ± 4.6 kg/m2). Fat mass was estimated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Bioelectric resistance, reactance, phase angle, and vector length were assessed by bioelectric impedance spectroscopy, and the BIVA procedure was applied.

Results: A significant (p < 0.05) group x time interaction for fat mass, specific resistance, reactance, and vector length was found. Fat mass and vector length significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in the intervention group, while no change was measured in the control group. Considering the participants as a whole group, changes in vector length were associated with changes in fat mass percentage (r2 = 0.246; β = 0.33; p < 0.001) even after adjusting for age, sex, and group (R2 = 0.373; β = 0.23; p = 0.002).

Conclusions: The specific BIVA approach is suitable to track fat mass changes during an intervention program aimed to reduce body fat in former athletes.

Keywords: BIVA; body composition; fat mass; weight loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
R-Xc z-score and paired graphs for the multivariate changes in bioelectrical parameters. In the left panels, bioimpedance data are plotted on the R-Xc z-score graph after the transformation of the impedance measurements from the athletes into bivariate z-scores (with respect to their reference population [16]). In the right panels, mean vector displacements with 95% confidence ellipses and results of the Hotelling’s t2 test are shown.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot with changes in specific vector length and percentage of fat mass considering all participants as a whole group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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