Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33929337›Full record

Observational studyJMIR mHealth and uHealth2021

Accuracy of Smart Scales on Weight and Body Composition: Observational Study.

Justine Frija-Masson, Jimmy Mullaert, Emmanuelle Vidal-Petiot, Nathalie Pons-Kerjean, Martin Flamant, Marie-Pia d'Ortho

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03803098 (Evaluation of the Metrological Reliability of Connected Objects Available to the Public in the Measurement of Medical Physiological Parameters), which is not on this map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03803098 unknown statusnot on this map

Evaluation of the Metrological Reliability of Connected Objects Available to the Public in the Measurement of Medical Physiological Parameters

TypeobservationalSponsorAssistance Publique - Hôpitaux de ParisRan2019 to 2022Enrolled400ConditionsRespiratory, Disorder, Functional, ImpairedArmsreference measure, alternative measure
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. mEnergy: Development of a Novel mHealth Multi-device Platform for Near Real-time Remote Assessment of Energy Disorders.Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference · 2025
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  7. Observational
  8. Review
  9. Article
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  11. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Justine Frija-MassonPhysiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire APOLLO (Personalised medicine in chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, renal diseases and organ transplantation), Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0001-5575-3913
Jimmy MullaertDépartement d'Epidémiologie, Biostatistiques et Recherche Clinique, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-2563-9033
Emmanuelle Vidal-PetiotPhysiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire APOLLO (Personalised medicine in chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, renal diseases and organ transplantation), Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0001-9356-7302
Nathalie Pons-KerjeanDigital Medical Hub, Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0003-2415-754X
Martin FlamantPhysiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire APOLLO (Personalised medicine in chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, renal diseases and organ transplantation), Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-6526-0968
Marie-Pia d'OrthoPhysiologie-Explorations Fonctionnelles, Fédération Hospitalo-Universitaire APOLLO (Personalised medicine in chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, renal diseases and organ transplantation), Hôpital Bichat Claude Bernard, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0003-3119-0970
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSmart scales are increasingly used at home by patients to monitor their body weight and body composition, but scale accuracy has not often been documented.

objectiveThe goal of the research was to determine the accuracy of 3 commercially available smart scales for weight and body composition compared with dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) as the gold standard.

methodsWe designed a cross-sectional study in consecutive patients evaluated for DEXA in a physiology unit in a tertiary hospital in France. There were no exclusion criteria except patient declining to participate. Patients were weighed with one smart scale immediately after DEXA. Three scales were compared (scale 1: Body Partner [Téfal], scale 2: DietPack [Terraillon], and scale 3: Body Cardio [Nokia Withings]). We determined absolute error between the gold standard values obtained from DEXA and the smart scales for body mass, fat mass, and lean mass.

resultsThe sample for analysis included 53, 52, and 48 patients for each of the 3 tested smart scales, respectively. The median absolute error for body weight was 0.3 kg (interquartile range [IQR] -0.1, 0.7), 0 kg (IQR -0.4, 0.3), and 0.25 kg (IQR -0.10, 0.52), respectively. For fat mass, absolute errors were -2.2 kg (IQR -5.8, 1.3), -4.4 kg (IQR -6.6, 0), and -3.7 kg (IQR -8.0, 0.28), respectively. For muscular mass, absolute errors were -2.2 kg (IQR -5.8, 1.3), -4.4 kg (IQR -6.6, 0), and -3.65 kg (IQR -8.03, 0.28), respectively. Factors associated with fat mass measurement error were weight for scales 1 and 2 (P=.03 and P<.001, respectively), BMI for scales 1 and 2 (P=.034 and P<.001, respectively), body fat for scale 1 (P<.001), and muscular and bone mass for scale 2 (P<.001 for both). Factors associated with muscular mass error were weight and BMI for scale 1 (P<.001 and P=.004, respectively), body fat for scales 1 and 2 (P<.001 for both), and muscular and bone mass for scale 2 (P<.001 and P=.002, respectively).

conclusionsSmart scales are not accurate for body composition and should not replace DEXA in patient care.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03803098; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03803098.

Indexed as

Body CompositionAbsorptiometry, PhotonBody WeightCross-Sectional StudiesFranceHumansDEXAobesitysmart scales

Identifiers

PMID33929337
PMCPMC8122302
OpenAlexW3159758686

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.