Phase angle measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis in a healthy population

Background: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) by obtaining information about the electrical properties of tissues by using raw bioelectrical impedance measurements [resistance, reactance, phase angle (PA)] is widely used in evaluating body-composition. The objective of this study was to investigate phase angle in a healthy population. Methods: In this study BIA examinations were conducted on 75 healthy population (67 men and 8 women). The mean age of the group was 56.56±12.05 years, BMI 26.12±4.19 kg/m2 and height 171.23±8.65 cm. Results: At 50 kHz the value of resistance was 511.02±65.35 ohm, reactance 48.48±8.18 ohm and PA 5.44±0.75º. Conclusions: Further observations of a larger group of individuals are needed to assess reference ranges of impedance values (resistance, reactance, phase angle) for the Polish population.