Research
Applications in Practice
How practitioners and researchers use body composition assessment.
4 sources
What the evidence says
Validation Considerations
Validation depends on the method and population (Sheean et al., 2020). Evidence for one technique does not validate this app or every body fat formula. This app estimates body fat. It does not diagnose disease or provide a standalone health risk assessment.
Study Design
Which criteria did the researchers use to select an assessment method?
How did researchers standardize measurement protocols?
Outcome Assessment
How did the researchers track longitudinal changes?
How did researchers assess the effects of treatment or an intervention?
Applied Settings
General Assessment
Smith et al. (2023) review body composition tools for nutrition assessment in hospitalized adults and for monitoring nutrition interventions. They call for validation studies and standardized bedside assessment protocols.
- Nutritional status assessment in hospitalized adults
- Response to nutrition interventions in hospitalized adults
Research Applications
Research Studies
Questions to ask when assessing a research study:
Study Design
- Which criteria did the researchers use to select an assessment method?
- How did researchers standardize measurement protocols?
- What quality control measures did the researchers use?
- How did researchers validate the data?
Outcome Assessment
- How did researchers assess the effects of treatment or an intervention?
- How did the researchers track longitudinal changes?
- Which research endpoints did the researchers assess?
Population Studies
Epidemiological Research
Questions to ask when reading population research:
- How did researchers collect the reference data?
- How did researchers establish population norms?
- Which population trends did the researchers analyse?
- Which demographic groups did the researchers compare?
What this means for your measurement
Validation Considerations
Questions to ask when reading a validation study:
Validation depends on the method and population (Sheean et al., 2020). Evidence for one technique does not validate this app or every body fat formula. This app estimates body fat. It does not diagnose disease or provide a standalone health risk assessment.
- Which multi-component model did researchers use for validation, if any?
- How did researchers assess field method accuracy?
- Which population did researchers use to develop each equation?
- How did researchers standardize measurement procedures?