Metabolic syndrome and disability in Chinese nonagenarians and centenarians

Little is known about the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and disability in the oldest old.

To investigate the possible association between MetS and disability among community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 90 years.

This was a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study. MetS was defined by the International Diabetes Federation Criteria. Activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disabilities were evaluated using the physical self-maintenance scale and the Lawton-Brody IADL scale, respectively.

We included 725 participants (mean age: 93.8 ± 3.1 years). The prevalence of MetS was 13.0% in women and 9.8% in men, respectively. In women, ADL and IADL disabilities were more prevalent in the MetS group compared with the non-MetS group (ADL: 43.1 vs. 30.6%, p = 0.044; IADL: 73.8 vs. 59.8%, p = 0.030). After adjusting for relevant confounders, participants with MetS was associated with an increased risk of either ADL (odds ratio [OR] 1.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.22-3.45) or IADL disability (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.31-4.78) compared with those without MetS. In men, similar results were found with respect to the prevalence of ADL or IADL disability and the adjusted ORs, but the results were not statistically significant.

MetS is associated with an increased risk of either ADL or IADL disability in a study population of long-lived adults, especially in women.