A method comparison study to validate a novel parameter of obesity, the body adiposity index, in chinese subjects

Objective A recently developed parameter, the body adiposity index (BAI)a composite index based on hip circumference and heightestimates the percentage (%) body adiposity indirectly. The BAI was compared with dual energy X-ray absorptiometer (DEXA)-derived % adiposity to validate the BAI in the local Chinese population. Design and Methods 105 Chinese were recruited and % adiposity estimated by BAI was compared with that derived from DEXA using the Bland Altman plot. A correlation study comparing the BAI with body mass index (BMI) was also done. Results BAI underestimated DEXA-derived % adiposity by a mean of 5.77% with 95% limits of agreement of +/- 8.4%. When stratified by gender, BMI correlated with DEXA-derived % adiposity better than BAI (r=0.81 vs. 0.74 for males, P=0.088, and r=0.87 vs. 0.82 for females, P=0.087). Hip circumference and waist circumference also correlated better with the BMI than BAI (r=0.94 vs. 0.71 for hip circumference, P<0.001, and r=0.93 vs. 0.50 for waist circumference, P<0.001, respectively). Conclusions The BAI underestimates DEXA-derived % adiposity in a Chinese population in Singapore and is unlikely to be a better overall index of adiposity than the established BMI.