Background: height loss beginning in mid-life and post-menopausal period was associated with adverse health outcomes. However, height loss occurring after old age has been little studied. We examined how height loss was related to bone mineral density (BMD) change, fracture incidence and cause-specific mortality in older adults.

Methods: the stature and BMD of 3145 community-dwelling men and women aged ≥65 were measured at baseline and after 4 years. All fracture and cause-specific mortality events were searched in a territory-wide clinical information database and death registry.

Results: twenty-five (1.6%) men and 64 (4.0%) women lost >2 cm after 4 years. In women, the BMD decline was faster in the rapid height losers (adjusted difference = 4.18%, P < 0.001). There was no corresponding difference observed in men. Rapid height loss was associated with excess all fractures and hip fractures (adjusted HR for all fractures = 2.86, P < 0.001; adjusted HR for hip fractures = 4.74, P < 0.01) in women but only hip fractures (adjusted HR = 4.93, P < 0.05) in men. The all-cause (adjusted HR = 3.43, P < 0.01) and respiratory disease mortality (adjusted HR = 5.64, P < 0.05) were higher in men with rapid height loss, whereas those in women were insignificant.

Conclusions: modest height loss occurring after old age, >2 cm in 4 years, was associated with excess hip fracture, total and respiratory disease mortality in older men. In women, it was associated with excess BMD decline, all fractures and hip fractures but not mortality. Further research is needed to determine the usefulness of regular stature measurement as an indicator of bone health in the primary-care setting in older adults.

Background

Whether overweight in old age is hazardous remains controversial. Body mass index (BMI) overestimates adiposity and fails to measure central adiposity. We used dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to measure adiposity and hypothesized that overall adiposity, distribution of adiposity, and muscle mass might individually affect survival.

Methods

We recruited 2000 men and 2000 women aged 65 years or older. Baseline BMI, waist–hip ratio (WHR), body fat index (BFI = total body fat/height square), relative truncal fat (RTF = trunk fat/total body fat), and body muscle mass index (BMMI = total body muscle mass/height square) were measured. Mortality was ascertained by death registry after 63.3 (median) months.

Results

Two hundred and forty-two men and 78 women died. In men, mortality hazard ratio (HR) decreased consistently by 0.85 (p < .005), 0.86 (p < .005), and 0.86 (p < .005) per every quintile increase in BMI, BFI, and BMMI, respectively. A J-shaped relationship was observed in central adiposity (RTF and WHR) quintiles; the minimum values were at the 3rd WHR quintile (0.92–0.94) and 4th RTF quintile (mean WHR, 0.94). When RTF was tested with BFI, both high and low central adiposity were unfavorable while general adiposity became marginally insignificant (p = 0.062). When BFI and BMMI were tested together, increasing adiposity rather than muscle mass favored survival (BFI quintile, HR 0.97, p .015; BMMI quintile, HR 1.00, p .997).

Conclusions

Older men were resistive to hazards of overweight and adiposity; and mild-grade overweight, obesity, and even central obesity might be protective. This may bear significant implication on the recommended cutoff values for BMI and WHR in the older population.

Background

Physical function decline is associated with dementia, which might either be mediated by the coexisting sarcopenia or directly related to the impaired cognition. Our objectives are to examine the relationship between cognitive function and performance-based physical function and to test the hypothesis that cognitive function is related to poor physical function independent of muscle mass.

Methods

We measured muscle strength, performance-based physical function and muscle mass using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and cognitive function using the cognitive part of the Community Screening Instrument of Dementia (CSI-D) in 4,000 community-dwelling Chinese elderly aged >65 years. A CSI-D cognitive score of >28.40 was considered as cognitively impaired. The effect of cognitive impairment on muscle strength and physical function was analyzed by multivariate analysis with adjustment for age, appendicular skeletal mass (ASM), the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) and other comorbidities.

Results

In both genders, the cognitively impaired (CSI-D cognitive score >28.40) group had a weaker grip strength (–5.10 kg, p < 0.001 in men; −1.08 kg in women, p < 0.001) and performed worse in the two physical function tests (in men, 6-meter walk speed, −0.13 m/s, p < 0.001, chair stand test, 1.42 s, p < 0.001; in women, 6-meter walk speed, −0.08 m/s, p < 0.001, chair stand test, 1.48 s, p < 0.001). After adjustment for age, ASM, PASE and other comorbidities, significant differences in grip strength (–2.60 kg, p < 0.001 in men; −0.49 kg, p = 0.011 in women) and the two physical function tests persisted between the cognitively impaired and nonimpaired group (in men, 6-meter walk speed, −0.072 m/s, p < 0.001, chair stand test, 0.80 s, p = 0.045; in women, 6-meter walk speed, −0.049 m/s, p < 0.001, chair stand test, 0.98 s, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Poor physical function and muscle strength coexisted with cognitive impairment. This relationship was independent of muscle mass. It is likely therefore that the functional decline in dementia might be related directly to factors resulting in cognitive impairment independently of the coexisting sarcopenia.