Bone Research Group

The effect of obesity on DXA measurements (Prodigy and iDXA)

Collaborators: Dr Jo Welsman, Dr Ann Rowlands and Dr Glen Blake (King’s College London)

With the percentage of the population that are obese rapidly increasing, there are potential effects on DXA measurements.  This study follows the hypothesis that precision errors will increase with increasing body mass index and body mass (BMI).  150 women will be recruited from the local population covering all body mass index groups to investigate whether precision errors increase with increasing BMI at the lumbar spine, proximal femur and whole body.  New least significant changes and optimum follow-up periods will be calculated from the data.  This study is currently being undertaken on the GE Lunar Prodigy, but will be repeated on the new GE Lunar iDXA supplied by GE Medical.