Obesity and Functional Disability in Elderly Americans
- 11 February 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Vol. 56 (4), 689-694
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01624.x
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether indicators of obesity are associated with functional disabilities in elderly American women and men. DESIGN: Cross‐sectional. SETTING: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999 to 2004, United States. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand six hundred eighty‐four elderly (aged ≥60) women and 1,611 elderly men. MEASUREMENTS: Functional disabilities. RESULTS: In women, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were each related to higher prevalence of all measures of disabilities. Compared with the lowest quartile of waist circumference, the multivariate odds ratios (ORs) of the highest quartile for having difficulties in functional domains were 2.4 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.6–3.6) for activities of daily living, 2.3 (95% CI=1.6–3.3) for instrumental activities of daily living, 2.6 (95% CI=1.6–4.1) for leisure and social activities, 4.8 (95% CI=3.4–6.9) for lower extremity mobility, and 2.9 (95% CI=2.1–4.0) for general physical activity. In men, these associations were moderate; the corresponding ORs were 1.2 (95% CI=0.8–2.0), 1.3 (95% CI=0.9–2.1), 2.1 (95% CI=1.2–3.7), 1.8 (95% CI=1.2–2.7), and 2.1 (95% CI=1.5–2.8), respectively. Similar results were obtained for BMI. These associations could not be explained by the presence of major chronic conditions. When adjusted simultaneously, waist circumference appeared to be a better predictor than BMI of disability in women. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that indicators of obesity are related to functional disabilities in elderly Americans.This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Increasing Trends in Waist Circumference and Abdominal Obesity among U.S. AdultsObesity, 2007
- Exploring How Peak Leg Power and Usual Gait Speed Are Linked to Late-Life DisabilityAmerican Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 2006
- The Association of Race With Frailty: The Cardiovascular Health StudyAnnals of Epidemiology, 2006
- The Relations of Body Composition and Adiposity Measures to Ill Health and Physical Disability in Elderly MenAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 2006
- Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 1999-2004JAMA, 2006
- Abdominal fat distribution and functional limitations and disability in a biracial cohort: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities StudyInternational Journal of Obesity, 2005
- Relationship between body mass index and different domains of disability in older persons: the 3C studyInternational Journal of Obesity, 2004
- Abdominal adiposity in U.S. adults: prevalence and trends, 1960–2000Preventive Medicine, 2004
- Physical disability and muscular strength in relation to obesity and different body composition indexes in a sample of healthy elderly womenInternational Journal of Obesity, 2004
- Anthropometric indices predict physical function and mobility in older Australians: the Australian Longitudinal Study of AgeingPublic Health Nutrition, 2002