Abdominal Bioelectric Impedance for Follow-up of Dieters: A Prospective Study

This prospective study was conducted during the period from December 2011 through June 2013 in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Başkent University.

We enrolled 185 participants who were admitted to hospital for weight loss therapy. After initial evaluation, all participants were prescribed an appropriate diet with caloric restriction and an exercise program and underwent a follow-up examination 3±1 months later. At the end of the follow up, 103 participants attended to the research. Anthropometric, bioimpedance and laboratory measurements performed at baseline and second visit. We calculated the difference in anthropometric, bioimpedance and laboratory measurements between the first and second evaluations. Correlation analysis, multivariate linear regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis performed to assess associations of laboratory metabolic variables with a decrease in anthropometric and bioimpedance analysis (BIA) measures, after diet and/or exercise therapy. The secondary aim was to determine whether abdominal BIA was better than simple anthropometric measurements and conventional BIA for assessing changes in metabolic variables.