Body composition reference ranges in community-dwelling adults using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: the Australian Body Composition (ABC) Study

Abstract

Background: Reference ranges for lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) are essential in identifying soft tissue disorders; however, no such reference ranges exist for the most commonly used Hologic dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) machine in Australia. Methods: Cross-sectional study of community-dwelling adults (aged 18–88 years) who underwent a Hologic DXA scan at one of three commercialized densitometry centres in Australia. Age-specific and sex-specific percentile curves were generated for LM [LM, appendicular lean mass (ALM), ALM adjusted for height squared (ALM/h2), and ALM adjusted for body mass index (ALM/BMI)] and FM [FM, FM adjusted for height squared (FM/h2), appendicular fat mass..