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General, abdominal obesity increase risk for incident frailty in older adults
In older adults, general and abdominal obesity are associated with incident frailty, according to research published in Obesity.
“Results from the Seniors-ENRICA and Toledo Study for Healthy Aging cohort studies … suggest an independent association between obesity and risk of exhaustion, low physical activity and weakness,” the researchers wrote.
In a longitudinal study, Esther García-Esquinas, MD, MPH, of the department of preventive medicine and public health, Autonomous University of Madrid, and colleagues from other institutions analyzed findings from the two population-based cohorts.
The Seniors-ENRICA study involved 1,801 adults aged at least 60 years and the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging involved 1,289 aged at least 65 years. The investigators assessed incident frailty using standardized Fried criteria, based on a follow-up period of 3.5 years.
Incident frailty occurred in 125 individuals in the Seniors-ENRICA and 162 in the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging.
The pooled OR for frailty risk was 1.73 (95% CI, 1.18-2.28) for general obesity and 1.67 (95% CI, 1.09-2.25) for abdominal obesity, with adjustments for the main confounders.
Compared with individuals who had BMI greater than 25 kg/m2 and no abdominal obesity, the risk for frailty was highest among those with coexisting general and abdominal obesity (pooled OR = 2.55; 95% CI, 1.23-3.86).
Individuals with general obesity were at increased risk for exhaustion (pooled OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.11-2.21), low physical activity (pooled OR = 1.57; 95% CI, 1.08-2.05) and weakness (pooled OR = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.12-2.05); similar results were seen with abdominal obesity, with statistical significance only for weakness (OR = 1.46; 95% CI, 1.11-1.8).
“Future research should assess whether appropriate interventions addressing obesity can reduce the risk of frailty and the subsequent disability,” the researchers wrote. – by Allegra Tiver
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.