title: Effects of clothing on accuracy and reliability of air displacement plethysmography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this investigation was to quantify the effects of different attire on the accuracy and reliability of estimating percent body fat (%fat) by using air displacement plethysmography (ADP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen adults were tested four times on four separate occasions. Each session consisted of estimating %fat with ADP wearing a swimsuit (ADP(SS)), a hospital gown (ADP(HG)), and in the nude (ADP(N)), plus assessment by hydrostatic weighing (HW).
  
  
  RESULTS
  An ANOVA revealed no significant differences within any of the four methods over the 4 days. Intraclass correlation coefficients revealed a strong relationship for repeated measures in ADP(SS) (r = 0.981), ADP(HG) (r = 0.993), ADP(N) (r = 0.989), and HW (r = 0.976). Mean data for each condition indicated a significant underestimation (P < 0.05) of %fat while wearing a hospital gown (13.8 +/- 7.7%) compared with ADP(SS) (22.0 +/- 7.8%), ADP(N) (23.5 +/- 7.5%), and HW (22.6 +/- 6.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reliability of ADP does not appear to be compromised by clothing; however, wearing a hospital gown significantly affects accuracy, reducing %fat estimations by approximately 9% compared with the recommended swimsuit. Measurement in the nude does not provide more reliable or accurate measures than wearing a swimsuit.
authors.affiliation: The George Washington University Medical Center, School of Public Health and Health Services, Exercise Science Programs, Washington, DC 20052, USA. vescovji@aol.com
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Vescovi
authors.forename: Shannon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Wayne C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fernhall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000388:Air; D001823:Body Composition; D001835:Body Weight; D003020:Clothing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D008297:Male; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D010993:Plethysmography, Whole Body / Q000592:standards; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity