INTRODUCTION: Body composition is an important metric in pregnant women for assessing risk of metabolic disorders such as gestational diabetes mellitus. The InBody (IB) 720 and InBody 230 (InBody, Seoul, South Korea) are multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) devices used to estimate body composition. The IB720 is a research-grade device while the IB230 is a portable device. Previous studies have assessed the agreement of BIA devices in general population adults but not in pregnant women. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the reliability of the IB230 and IB720 to measure total body water (TBW), total lean mass (TLM), and total fat mass (TFM) in pregnant women.
METHODS: Thirty-two pregnant women (27.0±7.8 years; BMI 31.8±4.5 kg/m2, 68.8% Caucasian) were evaluated using the IB720 and the IB230 at 19-21 weeks gestation. Total body water (TBW), total lean mass (TLM), and total fat mass (TFM) were estimated and compared using Pearson’s correlation coefficients.
RESULTS: Average TBW was 34.8±5.1kg from IB720 and 34.9±5.41kg from IB230. Average TLM was 47.7±7.0kg from IB720 and 45.6±11.4kg from IB230. Average TFM was 34.7±15.2kg from IB720 and 34.6±14.7kg from IB230. Measures from IB720 and IB230 were strongly correlated for TBW, TLM, and TFM (r = 0.994, 0.663, 0.998, respectively, p\u3c0.01 for all (2-tailed)).
CONCLUSION: The IB720 and IB230 produced similar measurements for TBW, TLM, and TFM. The data suggest that the portable and more accessible IB230 was in agreement with the IB720 and can be used to estimate body composition in pregnant women
