Obese Body Mass Index in late-life as a protective factor for Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia and Death
Abstract Objective: The goal of the current study was to estimate the hazards of conversion from unimpaired to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to probable dementia and death for underweight, normal, overweight and obese older adults in an aging cohort where the timing of examinations may be associated with the severity of dementia. Methods: We analyzed six waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS); a longitudinal aging cohort. Participants were classified into mutually exclusive cognitive statuses: cognitively unimpaired, MCI, probable dementia and death. Time-to-event ratios and cognitive transitions were examined with multistate survival models accounting for misclassification. BMI was computed from height and weight measurements and expressed in kg/m2 and categorized into underweight, normal, overweight and obese. Results: Participants (n=6,078) were 77 years old, on average, and the majority were white, females and high school graduates. About one third (32.68%) of the sample has normal BMI, one third is overweight (35.59%), the rests are obese (26.41%) or underweight (5.33%). After adjusting for the effects of diabetes, CVD, vigorous physical activity, age and race/ethnicity, the protective effect of obesity in late-life against developing dementia (HR=0.44; 95%CI[0.29-0.67]) and dying from dementia (HR=0.63; 95%CI[0.42-0.95). Discussion: Prior research shows the risk of dementia associated with obesity at older ages is either attenuated or reversed. Our findings support a protective factor of obesity in late-life against conversion to dementia and death.