Introduction Low muscle mass is a key component of sarcopenia and is common in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), contributing to poorer metabolic control and increased health risks. Dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the reference method for estimating appendicular muscle mass, but its availability is limited. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) versus DXA for identifying low muscle mass in adults with T2DM. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, 97 adults with T2DM (49 men and 48 women) underwent body composition assessment using a BIA device (InBody 120) and DXA (GE Lunar Prodigy). Low muscle mass was defined using sex‐specific cut‐offs for BIA‐ and DXA‐derived indexes. Correlations between methods were examined separately by sex. Results Low muscle mass was identified in 43.75% of women ( n = 21) and 51.04% of men ( n = 25). Strong correlations were observed between BIA and DXA across multiple parameters. Among men, skeletal muscle mass index by BIA correlated strongly with the Baumgartner index by DXA ( r = 0.861, p = 0.001), and fat mass index showed a similar correlation ( r = 0.776, p = 0.001). Among women, strong correlations were observed for fat mass index ( r = 0.900, p = 0.001), appendicular skeletal muscle mass index ( r = 0.879, p = 0.001), and fat‐free mass index ( r = 0.879, p = 0.001). A small number of outliers were observed, particularly among women, suggesting measurement discrepancies potentially related to higher adiposity. Conclusion BIA demonstrated high concordance with DXA for estimating muscle mass in adults with T2DM, supporting its role as an accessible screening method where DXA is unavailable. Further studies incorporating muscle strength and performance measures are needed to clarify the role of BIA within diagnostic frameworks for sarcopenia.
Santos et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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