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Association of Anemia with Activities of Daily Living in Chinese Female Centenarians

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

Although anemia and activities of daily living (ADL) disability in female elderly are common conditions and are more likely to occur as people age, little is known about the association of anemia with ADL in female centenarians. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between anemia and ADL disability in Chinese female centenarians.

Design, setting and participants

We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of a sample of 822 Chinese female centenarians from 2014 to 2016.

Measurements

Blood analysis, home interview, and physical examination were performed following standard procedures. ADL disability was defined as a Barthel Index total score≤60.

Results

The prevalence of anemia and ADL disability were 66.8% and 29.7% respectively in Chinese female centenarians. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that inflammation (OR = 2.280, 95% CI, 1.524–3.410), underweight (OR = 1.653, 95% CI, 1.186–2.303), anemia (OR = 1.775, 95% CI, 1.250–2.521), and living with family (OR = 0.518, 95% CI, 0.302–0.888) were significant factors related to ADL disability. Centenarians with severe anemia had an approximately fourfold greater likelihood of ADL disability than those without anemia (OR =3.747; 95% CI 1.525–9.206). An apparent dose-response relationship was found between anemia and ADL disability.

Conclusion

These findings may provide some insights into targeted intervention for maintaining ADL independence in female centenarians, especially encouraging the interventions of anemia to improve ADL.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by research grants from National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFC1303603), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81773502, 81703308, 81703285), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7174350), Beijing Nova Program (Z181100006218085), the fund of the State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases in PLA General Hospital (KF-01-115), National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics Diseases(NCRCG-PLAGH-2017017).We thank Jie Liu, Ph.D. (Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital) for his helpful review and comments regarding the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of geriatrics, the 2nd Medical Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aging and Geriatrics, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China

    W. Jia, S. Wang, K. Han, M. Liu, S. Yang, W. Cao & Yao He

  2. Department of Military Medical Technology Support, School of Non-commissioned Officer, Army Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China

    W. Jia

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  1. W. Jia
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Correspondence to Yao He.

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Ethical standards: This study’s protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Hainan branch of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (number 301hn11201601). It complied with the Declaration of Helsinki (seventh revision, 2013) on medical protocols and ethics.

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Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Jia, W., Wang, S., Han, K. et al. Association of Anemia with Activities of Daily Living in Chinese Female Centenarians. J Nutr Health Aging 24, 346–351 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1326-3

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