Body composition assessment in athletes: comparison of a novel ultrasound technique to traditional skinfold measures and criterion DXA measure

Abstract Objectives This investigation compared ultrasound and skinfolds as measures of body fat for athletes, relative to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Design Fifty-six well-trained athletes from various sports participated in a cross-sectional study. Methods The participants attended one testing session, where total body fat mass was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and subcutaneous adipose tissue was measured using brightness-mode ultrasound and skinfolds with calipers. The ultrasound and skinfold measures were correlated independently against standardised fat mass from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Results The correlation between standardised fat mass and sum-of-eight (Σ8) sites ultrasound (r = 0.959, p  Conclusions Ultrasound and skinfolds are both very good methods to accurately assess body composition in athletes, relative to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. However, ultrasound delivered consistently more accurate results, throughout a broad athletic spectrum.