Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and air displacement plethysmography (ADP) are commonly used to assess body composition. Accurate body fat measures are valuable in a variety of populations. Because DXA, the reference standard, is expensive and labour-intensive, determining whether these two methods are interchangeable is important.
Forty-five female undergraduate students aged 21 to 33 with body mass indexes of 18.3 to 28.6 kg/m² were recruited from the University of Guelph. Each participant underwent one full-body DXA scan and one ADP assessment, to determine total percent fat mass (%FM).
The Pearson's correlation between %FM(DXA) (27.1 ± 4.8) and %FM(ADP) (26.1 ± 5.5) indicated good association (r=0.88, p