Cognitive Function in Normal-Weight, Overweight, and Obese Older Adults: An Analysis of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cohort

doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00522.x

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Wiley InterScience

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Volume 54 Issue 1, Pages 97 - 103

Published Online: 8 Nov 2005

Journal compilation 2010 The American Geriatrics Society/Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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BRIEF REPORTS

Cognitive Function in Normal-Weight, Overweight, and Obese Older Adults: An Analysis of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cohort

Hsu-Ko Kuo, MD MPH ^*‡§ , Richard N. Jones, ScD ^*‡ , William P. Milberg, PhD ^*∥ , Sharon Tennstedt, PhD ^¶ , Laura Talbot, PhD EdD RN ^# , John N. Morris, PhD ^*‡ and Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD ^*‡

From the ^*Division on Aging, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; ^‡Research and Training Institute, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, Boston, Massachusetts; ^§Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; ^∥Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, New England Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts; ^¶New England Research Institutes, Inc., Watertown, Massachusetts; and ^#Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Address correspondence to Richard N. Jones, ScD, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, 1200 Center Street, Boston MA 02131. E-mail: jones@mail.hrca.harvard.edu

KEYWORDS

cognitive function • body mass index

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To assess how elevated body mass index (BMI) affects cognitive function in elderly people.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Data for this cross-sectional study were taken from a multicenter randomized controlled trial, the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly trial.

Participants: The analytic sample included 2,684 normal-weight, overweight, or obese subjects aged 65 to 94.

Measurements: Evaluation of cognitive abilities was performed in several domains: global cognition, memory, reasoning, and speed of processing. Cross-sectional association between body weight status and cognitive functions was analyzed using multiple linear regression.

Results: Overweight subjects had better performance on a reasoning task (β=0.23, standard error (SE)=0.11, P=.04) and the Useful Field of View (UFOV) measure (β=−39.46, SE=12.95, P=.002), a test of visuospatial speed of processing, after controlling for age, sex, race, years of education, intervention group, study site, and cardiovascular risk factors. Subjects with class I (BMI 30.0–34.9 kg/m²) and class II (BMI>35.0 kg/m²) obesity had better UFOV measure scores (β=−38.98, SE=14.77, P=.008; β=−35.75, SE=17.65, and P=.04, respectively) in the multivariate model than normal-weight subjects. The relationships between BMI and individual cognitive domains were nonlinear.

Conclusion: Overweight participants had better cognitive performance in terms of reasoning and visuospatial speed of processing than normal-weight participants. Obesity was associated with better performance in visuospatial speed of processing than normal weight. The relationship between BMI and cognitive function should be studied prospectively.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00522.x About DOI