Validity and interobserver agreement of lower extremity local tissue water measurements in healthy women using tissue dielectric constant

Summary Background Tissue dielectric constant (TDC) measurement may become an important tool in the clinical evaluation of chronic lower extremity swelling in women; however, several factors are known to influence TDC measurements, and comparative data on healthy lower extremities are few. Methods Thirty‐four healthy women volunteered. Age, BMI, moisturizer use and hair removal were registered. Three blinded investigators performed TDC measurements in a randomized sequence on clearly marked locations on the foot, the ankle and the lower leg. The effective measuring depth was 2·5 mm. Results The mean TDC was 37·8 ± 5·5 (mean ± SD) on the foot, 29·0 ± 3·1 on the ankle and 30·5 ± 3·9 on the lower leg. TDC was highly dependent on measuring site (P