A Systematic Review on Use of a Handheld Indirect Calorimeter to Assess Energy Needs in Adults and Children

Abstract

With the number of individuals becoming overweight or obese, health care professionals are in need of accurate, reliable, and convenient tools to help personalize weight-loss programs. Recently, a new handheld indirect calorimeter (i.e., MedGem/BodyGem; also know as "Gem") was introduced as a convenient way to assess resting metabolic rate (RMR) to determine daily energy needs. Several validation and comparison studies were conducted to determine whether the Gem device is accurate and reliable, and results from these studies are mixed. Fourteen human studies (12 adult, 2 pediatric) were conducted, and 12 met the established criteria for this review. In all Douglas-bag (DB; n = 4) validation studies, the Gem device was not significantly different than the DB (mean difference adult ±1%, pediatric ±1%). The intraclass reliability of the Gem ranged from 0.97 to 0.98, and the interclass reliability to the DB ranged from 0.91 to 0.97. Although few (n = 2) studies have demonstrated that the Gem device measures RMR significantly lower (-8.2% to 15.1%) than traditional metabolic carts, it performs very comparably (RMR values 0.1-4.0%, interclass reliability 0.76-0.92) to traditional metabolic carts in most (n = 6) of the comparison studies. Based on these data, the Gem device is a valid and reliable indirect calorimeter for energy assessment in most adults and children.

Accuracy of resting metabolic rate prediction in overweight and obese Australian adults

“…As the clinic did not possess the more contemporary ventilated hood system, the Douglas bag method was used to collect expired air in the latter stages of this period, but without any disturbance to or knowledge of the participant. This method is still regarded as the ''gold standard'' for indirect calorimetry measurement [27]. Expired air volumes were determined using a 120 L Tissot Tank (Collins, Braintree, MA, USA), with correction for the volume used to measure expired O 2 and CO 2 concentrations (Applied Electrochemistry, SOV S-3A/1 and COV CD-3A, Pittsburgh, PA, USA).…”

Employing RMR Technology in a 90-Day Weight Control Program

“…The measurement time was approximately 10 min in length. A recent systematic review of all MedGem validation studies indicate the MedGem to be an accurate and reliable indirect calorimeter for assessing RMR in healthy overweight individuals [12]. A registered dietitian informed intervention participants of personal RMR results.…”

Personalized Indirect Calorimeter for Energy Expenditure (EE) Measurement

“…Therefore, instruments that measure VO 2 alone [14] cannot provide RQ information. Breezing ® can measure RQ with good accuracy (slope = 0.9939, R 2 = 0.9980 and Bland-Altman difference within ± 0.05 for 80% of the RQ values).…”