Improving quality control procedures for the measurement of total daily energy expenditure using the two‐point doubly labeled water method

• Published in: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry 2024-10, Vol.38 (19), p.e9886-n/a
• Main Authors: Breit, Matthew J., Duncan, Nassia M., Dahle, Jared H., Catenacci, Victoria A., Creasy, Seth A., Berman, Elena S., Speakman, John R., Melanson, Edward L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Control equipment; Cost analysis; Criteria; Quality control; Sampling methods; Widening
• ISSN: 0951-4198; 1097-0231; 1097-0231
• DOI: 10.1002/rcm.9886

Rationale The precision of the doubly labeled water (DLW) method is determined by the precision and accuracy of the isotopic measurements. Quality control (QC) procedures to mitigate sample variability require additional measurements if sample duplicates differ more than a factor of instrument precision. We explored the effect of widening QC ranges on total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) determined using the two‐point sampling method. Methods We screened DLW data from 121 individuals for instances where samples were analyzed more than twice using our existing QC criteria (±2.0 per mil [δ] for 2H and ±0.5 δ for 18O). We then applied wider QC ranges for accepting duplicate measures and recalculated TDEE. Results Widening the 2H QC range to ±10.0 δ in samples collected on the first day (most enriched) and to ±5.0 δ in samples collected on the final day (less enriched) produced almost identical mean TDEE compared to the originally calculated TDEE (2684 ± 508 vs. 2687 ± 512 kcal/day, p = 0.40). There was a strong correlation with the originally calculated TDEE (r2 = 0.97, p