Executive summary of the 2013 International Society for Clinical Densitometry Position Development Conference on Body Composition.

There have been many scientific advances in measurement of fat and lean body mass as determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) convened a Position Development Conference (PDC) on the use of DXA for body composition measurement. Previously, no guidelines to the use of DXA for body composition existed. The recommendations pertain to clinically relevant issues regarding DXA indications of use, acquisition, analysis, quality control, interpretation, and reporting were addressed. The topics and questions for consideration were developed by the ISCD Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Committee and were designed to address the needs of clinical practitioners. Three Task Forces were created and assigned these questions and asked to conduct comprehensive literature reviews. The Task Forces included participants from 6 countries and a variety of interests including academic institutions, private clinics, and industry. Reports with proposed Position Statements were then presented to an international panel of experts with backgrounds in DXA and bone densitometry and a variety of fields that use body composition measures. The PDC was held in Tampa, FL, contemporaneously with the Annual Meeting of the ISCD, March 21 through March 23, 2013. This report describes the methodology of the 2013 ISCD Body Composition PDC and summarizes the results. Three separate articles in this issue will detail the rationale, discussion, and additional research topics for each question the Task Forces addressed.