Article Comparison of Abdominal Visceral Adipose Tissue Area Measured by Computed Tomography with That Estimated by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Method in Korean Subjects

† These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: We evaluated the concordance between visceral fat area (VFA) estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) or computed tomography (CT) in Korean subjects with a wide range in age and body mass index (BMI). In 1006 individuals (mean age 55.2 ˘ 11.8 (19–87) years, mean BMI 26.0 ˘ 3.5 (17–46) kg/m2, 48.9 % men), VFA quantified by CT was compared with VFA using multifrequency BIA machines within 15 days. Concordance rates were compared by age or BMI using correlation analysis, Bland-Altman plots, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Using BIA data, we established a regression formula to reflect CT-VFA. The mean VFAs by CT and BIA were 131.9 ˘ 57.3 cm2 and 110.5 ˘ 33.9 cm2, respectively (r = 0.605, p < 0.001). The mean difference was 21.4 ˘ 45.6 cm2, tending to increase with BMI. In women with BMI <25 kg/m2 or age <50 years, the VFAs by BIA were similar to those by CT (ICC = 0.496 in BMI <25 kg/m2 and ICC = 0.638 in age <50 years). However, the difference was greater in men with BMI ě25 kg/m2 or age ě50 years