116 Chapter 6 Abstract The aim of this study was to compare whole body composition, generated by air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and to evaluate the potential predictive value of the sum of skinfolds (∑SFT) for whole body composition, in preterm infants at term equivalent age. A convenience sample of sixty-five preterm infants with a mean (SD) gestational age of 29 (1.6) weeks was studied at term equivalent age. Fat mass measured by DXA and ADP were compared and the ability of the ∑SFT to predict whole body fat mass was investigated. There was poor agreement between fat mass percentage measured with ADP compared to DXA (limits of agreement: -4.8% and 13.7%). A previously modeled predictive equation with the ∑SFT as a predictor for absolute fat mass could not be validated. Corrected for confounders the ∑SFT explained 42% (ADP, p 0.001) and 75% (DXA, p 0.001) of the variance in fat mass percentage. Conclusions The ∑SFT was not able to accurately predict fat mass and ADP and DXA did not show comparable results. It remains to be elucidated whether or not a properly executed DXA provides more accurate assessment of whole body fat mass than ADP in preterm infants.
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