Pinch size can affect the skinfold thickness measurement and interfere in the estimation and classification of body adiposity

Abstract The aim of this study was to verify the effect of pinch size on skinfold thickness measurement and the consequent interference in the estimation and classification of body adiposity components. Cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out with a sample of 29 subjects recruited from a university in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Four measurement steps were performed at each site of the eight chosen skinfolds. The first step was performed with a subjective-landmark and the three subsequent steps with fixed-landmarks defined with an expanding secondary line at 2 cm intervals. Body adiposity components were determined from the skinfold thickness measured at each landmark. Repeated measures ANOVA and Bland-Altman agreement analysis were applied. The subjective-landmark was chosen as the dependent variable. The 6 cm-landmark showed similarity and statistical agreement with the subjective-landmark for all skinfolds except the thigh, and with the sums of five and eight skinfolds. All fixed-landmarks showed agreement below the cut-off point for the percentile classification of subcutaneous adiposity and normative relative body fat. Variation in pinch size is an important source of TEM that can affect the reproducibility of skinfold thickness measurements and interfere in the estimation and classification of the molecular and tissue component of body adiposity.