Relationship between Bioelectrical Impedance Phase Angle and Upper and Lower Limb Muscle Strength in Athletes from Several Sports: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
Everton Cirillo,
Alberto Pompeo,
Fabiane Tavares Cirillo,
José Vilaça-Alves,
Pablo Costa,
Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo,
Antonio Carlos Dourado,
José Afonso,
Filipe Casanova
Affiliations
Everton Cirillo
Centro de Investigação em Desporto, Educação Física, Exercício e Saúde (CIDEFES), Lusófona University, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
Alberto Pompeo
Centro de Investigação em Desporto, Educação Física, Exercício e Saúde (CIDEFES), Lusófona University, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
Fabiane Tavares Cirillo
Sports Science Department, State University of Londrina (UEL), Londrina 86057-970, Brazil
José Vilaça-Alves
Department of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000 Vila Real, Portugal
Pablo Costa
Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92831, USA
Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo
Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7591538, Chile
Antonio Carlos Dourado
Sports Science Department, State University of Londrina (UEL), Londrina 86057-970, Brazil
José Afonso
Centre for Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
Filipe Casanova
Centro de Investigação em Desporto, Educação Física, Exercício e Saúde (CIDEFES), Lusófona University, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal
The phase angle (PhA) of bioelectrical impedance is determined by primary factors such as age, body mass index and sex. The researchers’ interest in applying PhA to better understand the skeletal muscle property and ability has grown, but the results are still heterogeneous. This systematic review with a meta-analysis aimed to examine the existence of the relationship between PhA and muscle strength in athletes. The data sources used were PubMed, Scielo, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science and the study eligibility criteria were based on the PECOS. The searches identified 846 titles. From those, thirteen articles were eligible. Results showed a positive correlation between PhA and lower limb strength (r = 0.691 [95% CI 0.249 to 0.895]; p = 0.005), while no meta-analysis was possible for the relationships between PhA and lower limb strength. Furthermore, GRADE shows very low certainty of evidence. In conclusion, it was found that most studies showed a positive correlation between PhA and vertical jump or handgrip strength. The meta-analysis showed the relationship between PhA and vertical jump, however, little is known for the upper limbs as was not possible to perform a meta-analysis, and for the lower limbs we performed it with four studies and only with vertical jump.
