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. 2023 Mar;29(1):31-36.
doi: 10.1177/02601060221119247. Epub 2022 Aug 15.

Agreement between mechanical and digital skinfold callipers

Ana Catarina Vaz Pinheiro de Furtado Faria  1   2 , Diogo Vicente Martinho  2   3 , Bruno Rafael Ribeiro Abreu  2 , Bruno Rafael Costa Franco  2 , Lara Alexandre Moreira Carrilho  2 , Madalena Carraça Azaruja  2 , Pedro Miguel Tavares Mendes  4 , Mariana Duarte Simões Serra  5 , João Alexandre Teixeira Lemos  6 , João Paulo de Figueiredo  7
Affiliations

Agreement between mechanical and digital skinfold callipers

Ana Catarina Vaz Pinheiro de Furtado Faria et al. Nutr Health. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Skinfold callipers are often used in clinical practice to estimate subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness. Recently, LipoTool emerged as a potential digital system to measure skinfolds, however comparisons with competing equipment are lacking. Aim: The aim of this study was to test the agreement between two competing skinfold callipers (digital and mechanical). Methods: The sample included 22 healthy male adult participants. A certified observer measured eight skinfolds twice using different skinfold callipers (digital and mechanical). Differences between equipment were tested using Wilcoxon signed rank test The distribution of error was examined using the normality test Results: Differences between skinfold callipers were significantly in five skinfolds: triceps (Z = -3.546; P < 0.001), subscapular (Z = -3.984; P < 0.001), suprailiac (Z = 3.024; P = 0.002), supraspinale (Z = 3.885; P < 0.001), abdominal (Z z = -2.937; P = 0.003), thigh (Z = -2.224; P = 0.026) and calf (Z = -2.052; P = 0.040). Differences between callipers were constant. Conclusions: Mechanical and digital callipers tended to record different values of skinfold thickness. Clinical examination should consider equipment-related variation in fat mass estimation.

Keywords: adipose tissue; anthropometry; body composition; clinical examination; skinfold thickness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mechanical calliper.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Digital calliper.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Agreement of digital and mechanical callipers for triceps (panel a), subscapular (panel b), biceps (panel c), suprailiac (panel d), supraspinale (panel e), abdominal (panel f), thigh (panel g) and calf (panel h) skinfolds.
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