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The relationship of body mass index and the functional status of community-dwelling female older people admitting to a geriatric outpatient clinic

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Abstract

Objectives

The relationship of body mass index (BMI) with functional status differs in diversified geriatric population and various settings. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether BMI is related to functional status independent of age, nutritional status, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy in a group of Turkish community-dwelling female elderly.

Design

This study was conducted using a cross-sectional study design.

Setting

Geriatric outpatient clinic of a university hospital.

Participants

There were 438 female patients aged 60 years or older included in the analysis.

Measurements

Body mass indexes were calculated from weight (kg) divided by the square of height (m). Functional status was assessed with the evaluation of activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scales. Diseases and drugs were determined after the evaluation of the patients with comprehensive geriatric assessment, physical examination, first-line biochemical tests, and using the patients’ self-report and current medication lists.

Results

In total, 438 subjects comprised our study cohort. Mean age was 73.3 ± 6.9 years. Mean BMI was 27.8 ± 5.2 kg/m2. Linear regression analysis revealed significant and independent association of lower BMI with higher ADL and IADL scores (p = 0.02, B = −0.10; p < 0.001, B = −0.17, respectively). ADL and IADL were significantly negatively correlated with BMI in subjects with normal nutrition (p = 0.03, r = −0.122; p = 0.001, r = −0.183) but not in subjects with malnutrition risk or malnutrition. We suggest that lower BMI is associated with better functional status in Turkish community-dwelling female older people. This association is prominent in the subjects with normal nutritional status.

Conclusions

Our study recommends the need for further studies accounting for the nutritional status on the relationship between BMI and functionality in different populations and in different settings. It represents an important example for diversity in BMI-functionality relationship.

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Acknowledgments

GB participated in the design of the study, carried out the studies, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. YA, ZB, and OS helped to collect the data and carried out the sample analyses. FT, AT, and TSA helped to carry out the studies and/or study design. ZB, OS, NE, and MAK participated in the design of the study and/or helped to draft the manuscript. All of the authors have made substantial contributions to interpretation of the data and critical revision of the article for important intellectual content. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. There is no source of funding for the present study.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors has any conflicts of interest or financial or other contractual agreements that might cause conflicts of interest. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul University, Capa, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gulistan Bahat, Asli Tufan, Fatih Tufan, Nilgun Erten & Mehmet Akif Karan

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul University, Capa, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey

    Yucel Aydin & Timur Selcuk Akpinar

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Karadeniz Technical University Medical Faculty, 61040, Trabzon, Turkey

    Zumrut Bahat

  4. Department of Endocrinology, Internal Medicine, Bakirköy Education and Research Hospital, 34005, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ozlem Soyluk

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  1. Gulistan Bahat
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  2. Asli Tufan
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  3. Yucel Aydin
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  4. Fatih Tufan
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  5. Zumrut Bahat
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  6. Timur Selcuk Akpinar
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  7. Ozlem Soyluk
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  8. Nilgun Erten
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  9. Mehmet Akif Karan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gulistan Bahat.

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Bahat, G., Tufan, A., Aydin, Y. et al. The relationship of body mass index and the functional status of community-dwelling female older people admitting to a geriatric outpatient clinic. Aging Clin Exp Res 27, 303–308 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-014-0291-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-014-0291-2

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