Measurement of the subcutaneous fat in the distal forearm by single photon absorptiometry

The influence of subcutaneous fat on single photon (125I) absorptiometry (SPA) measurement of bone mineral content of the distal forearm was investigated. A fat correction model was tested by measurements on eight lean subjects with different amounts of porcine fat around their forearm, and further validated from measurements on 128 females. In addition, it is shown that the fat content in the distal forearm can be measured by SPA with a short-term precision at 1.9% in an obese subject and that it correlates well with total body fat (r2 = .7) measured by dual photon absorptiometry, skinfold thickness (r2 = .5), and body mass index (r2 = .6). By using this method in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, hormonal substitutional therapy significantly decreased the forearm fat content without affecting the body weight in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.