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Weight change and cognitive performance
D Brubacher1, A U Monsch, H B Stähelin
1Memory Clinic, Geriatric University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. dorothee.brubacher@unibas.ch
Objective:
To investigate whether under- or overweight and weight change is associated with cognitive performance of elderly citizens.
Design:
Explorative analysis out of the Basel Study cohort.
Subjects:
In all, 531 healthy subjects (445 men/86 women) were assessed with the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease-Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (CERAD-NAB) in 2000 (age: 69.4+/-7.8 y) and weight measurements obtained in 1990 (body mass index (BMI): 25.2+/-3.1 kg/m(2)) and in 2000 (BMI: 25.6+/-3.4 kg/m(2)).
Methods:
The predictive power of the annual change in BMI with cognitive performance was investigated by a binary logistic regression analysis (backward) using sex, age, BMI 1990, BMI 2000, diastolic blood pressure, diabetes status, and optimal health status as additional predictors.
Results:
In the last step, the following variables remained in the model: annual change in BMI (quadratic term; P<0.01); ApoE genotype (P<0.05); and optimal health status (P<0.01).
Conclusion:
The association between the extent of weight change and poorer cognitive performance could be either a consequence of cognitive impairment or an early symptom of neurodegenerative decline.