A Comprehensive Evaluation of Thigh Mineral-Free Lean Mass Measures Using Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) in Young Children

Authors

• Trey R. Naylor, University of KentuckyFollow
• Mariana V. Jacobs, University of KentuckyFollow
• Michael A. Samaan, University of KentuckyFollow
• Laura C. Murphy, University of KentuckyFollow
• Douglas J. SchneiderFollow
• Margaret O. Murphy, University of KentuckyFollow
• Hong Huang, University of KentuckyFollow
• John A. Bauer, University of KentuckyFollow
• Jody L. Clasey, University of KentuckyFollow

Abstract

This study aimed to (1) demonstrate the intra- and interrater reliability of quadriceps (QUADS) and hamstring (HAMS) mineral-free lean (MFL) mass measures using DXA scanning, (2) determine the association of total thigh MFL mass measures with MFL mass measures of the hamstrings and quadriceps combined and (3) analyze the association between total thigh MFL mass and total body MFL mass measures. A total of 80 young children (aged 5 to 11 yrs) participated and unique regions of interest were created using custom analysis software with manual tracing of the QUADS, HAMS, and total thigh MFL mass measures. Repeated-measure analysis of variance was used to determine if there were significant differences among the MFL measures while intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficients of variation (CV), and regression analysis were used to determine the intra- and interrater reliability and the explained variance in the association among MFL mass measures. The right interrater QUADS MFL mass was the only significant group mean difference, and ICCs between (≥0.961) and within (≥0.919) raters were high for all MFL measures with low variation across all MFL measures (≤6.13%). The explained variance was 92.5% and 96.3% for the between-investigator analyses of the right and left total thigh MFL mass measures, respectively. Furthermore, 97.5% of the variance in total body MFL mass was explained by the total thigh MFL mass. DXA MFL mass measures of the QUADS, HAMS and total thigh can be confidently used in young children and may provide an alternative to CT or MRI scanning when assessing changes in MFL cross-sectional area or volume measures due to disease progression, training and rehabilitative strategies.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Notes/Citation Information

© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging11110374

Funding Information

The study was funded by the University of Kentucky Pediatric Exercise Physiology Laboratory Endowment and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (UL1TR001998) Center for Clinical and Translational Science. The NIH also provided investigator support related to this manuscript (K01-AG073698 and 5K23ES034462).

Repository Citation

Naylor, Trey R.; Jacobs, Mariana V.; Samaan, Michael A.; Murphy, Laura C.; Schneider, Douglas J.; Murphy, Margaret O.; Huang, Hong; Bauer, John A.; and Clasey, Jody L., "A Comprehensive Evaluation of Thigh Mineral-Free Lean Mass Measures Using Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) in Young Children" (2025). Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications. 31.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/khp_facpub/31