Body composition and all-cause mortality in subjects older than 65 y.

Graf, Christophe E; Karsegard, Véronique L; Spoerri, Adrian; Makhlouf, Anne-Marie; Ho, Sylvain; Herrmann, François R; Genton, Laurence (2015). Body composition and all-cause mortality in subjects older than 65 y. American journal of clinical nutrition, 101(4), pp. 760-767. American Society for Nutrition, Inc. 10.3945/ajcn.114.102566

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BACKGROUND

A low or high body mass index (BMI) has been associated with increased mortality risk in older subjects without taking fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) into account. This information is essential because FMI is modulated through different healthcare strategies than is FFMI.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to determine the relation between body composition and mortality in older subjects.

DESIGN

We included all adults ≥65 y old who were living in Switzerland and had a body-composition measurement by bioelectrical impedance analysis at the Geneva University Hospitals between 1990 and 2011. FMI and FFMI were divided into sex-specific quartiles. Quartile 1 (i.e., the reference category) corresponded to the lowest FMI or FFMI quartile. Mortality data were retrieved from the hospital database, the Geneva death register, and the Swiss National Cohort until December 2012. Comorbidities were assessed by using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale.

RESULTS

Of 3181 subjects included, 766 women and 1007 men died at a mean age of 82.8 and 78.5 y, respectively. Sex-specific Cox regression models, which were used to adjust for age, BMI, smoking, ambulatory or hospitalized state, and calendar time, showed that body composition did not predict mortality in women irrespective of whether comorbidities were taken into account. In men, risk of mortality was lower with FFMI in quartiles 3 and 4 [HR: 0.78 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.98) and 0.64 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.85), respectively] but was not affected by FMI. When comorbidities were adjusted for, FFMI in quartile 4 (>19.5 kg/m(2)) still predicted a lower risk of mortality (HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.96).

CONCLUSIONS

Low FFMI is a stronger predictor of mortality than is BMI in older men but not older women. FMI had no impact on mortality. These results suggest potential benefits of preventive interventions with the aim of maintaining muscle mass in older men. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01472679.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Spörri, Adrian

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

0002-9165

Publisher:

American Society for Nutrition, Inc.

Language:

English

Submitter:

Doris Kopp Heim

Date Deposited:

17 Apr 2015 10:38

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:46

Publisher DOI:

10.3945/ajcn.114.102566

PubMed ID:

25833973

Uncontrolled Keywords:

body composition; body mass index; co-morbidities; cumulative illness rating scale; fat mass index; fat-free mass index; mortality; weight

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.67772

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/67772

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