Body composition assessment by bioelectrical impedance analysis among patients treated with L-dopa for Parkinson’s disease

Introduction
Among the consequences of Parkinson’s disease are disorders in body composition and weight loss.

Aim of the research
An analysis of body composition of patients with Parkinson’s disease treated with L-dopa.

Material and methods
A group of 32 patients was examined, including 26 (81.25%) females and 6 (18.75%) males. The study was conducted in the Laboratory for Posturology in the Institute of Physiotherapy at the faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce. Body composition was assessed using bioelectrical impedance analysis, which consists of the evaluation of resistance to the flow of an electric current.

Results and conclusions
The majority of body composition parameters remained within the normal ranges. The mean body mass index (BMI) index in patients with Parkinson’ disease was 24.12 kg/m² and remained within the normal range. The metabolic age of patients was 42.34 years and was considerably lower than the calendar age – 54.28 years. Highly significant differences were observed between males and females according to body height (Z = 3.7541; p = 0.0002), body weight (Z = 3.2592; p = 0.0011), fat mass (%) (Z = 3.1627; p = 0.0016), fat-free mass (kg) (Z = 3.7417; p = 0.0002), muscle mass (kg) (Z = 3.7421; p = 0.0002), visceral fat (Z = 1.9892; p = 0.0467), total body water (kg), total body water content (%) (Z = 3.7428; p = 0.0002), extracellular water (kg) (Z = 3.7448; p = 0.0002), intracellular fluid (kg) (Z = 3.7424; p = 0.0002), and the ratio of extracellular water to total body water (%) (Z = 2.9223; p = 0.0035). There were also significant positive correlations between metabolic age and the Overall Stability Index (r = 0.4057, p = 0.0212) and Front-Back Stability Index (r = 0.3507, p = 0.0490).