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The association between body composition and quality of life among elderly Italians

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Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to assess the body composition and quality of life in elderly Italian people and to value the association between these variables.

Methods

Height, weight, humerus breadth, circumferences, skinfolds, and hand grip strength were measured in 256 older adults (age: M: 81.1 ± 7.3, F: 84.9 ± 8.1 years). Body mass index, waist–hip ratio, waist–height ratio, upper-arm areas, and body composition parameters were calculated. Quality of life (QoL) was measured by WHO Quality of Life-BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). Differences between sexes were valued. A multiple regression analysis was carried out to assess the influence of nutritional status and of socio-demographic characteristics on QoL.

Results

The participants were in average overweight. Even if the percentage of overweight/obese subjects was high in both sexes, males presented a more centripetal fat distribution. These characteristics, joined to data regarding lower values of arm-muscle area and hand grip strength, put males at greater risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Regarding quality of life assessments, psychological domain showed the worst scores, and, marital status resulted the main explanatory variable for this domain.

Conclusions

Social care facilities for the elderly people require planning strategies based on health promotion criteria in order to accentuate active ageing interventions to ameliorate the quality of life of residents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Foscolo 7, 40123, Bologna, Italy

    Stefania Toselli, Francesco Campa, Federico Spiga & Alessia Grigoletto

  2. Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, Strada Maggiore 45, Bologna, Italy

    Ilaria Simonelli

  3. Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Emanuela Gualdi-Russo

Authors
  1. Stefania Toselli
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  2. Francesco Campa
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  3. Federico Spiga
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  4. Alessia Grigoletto
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  6. Emanuela Gualdi-Russo
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Correspondence to Francesco Campa.

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The study procedures were carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The Institutional Review Board of the Bioethics Committee of the University of Bologna approved the study.

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Toselli, S., Campa, F., Spiga, F. et al. The association between body composition and quality of life among elderly Italians. Endocrine 68, 279–286 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-019-02174-7

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