Underweight in Men Had a Closer Relationship with Falls than Women in Centenarians

The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between underweight and falls. It was a cross-sectional study in community-based participants from China Hainan Centenarian Cohort Study (CHCCS). A total of 942 centenarians (mean ages were 102.4 years in men and 102.9 years in women, 21.8% were semi-supercentenarians, and 3.2% were supercentenarians) were enrolled from July 2014 to December 2016. Height and weight were measured according to the standard protocol. Participants were interviewed face to face to self-report falls for recent 3 months. The risks of future falls were evaluated by Morse Fall Scale (MFS). The mean body mass index (BMI) was 19.04±2.79 kg/m2 in men and 18.07±3.27 kg/m2 in women. The 3-month incidences of once fall were 10.3% in men and 13.4% in women, recurrent falls were 15.4% in men and 13.4% in women, future high risks of falls were 36.6% in men and 44.3% in women. There were underweight by gender interactions on at least one fall (OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.04-1.86, P=0.026) and future high fall risk (OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.07-1.80, P=0.014). Men with underweight had higher ratios of at least one fall (OR=4.12, 95% CI=1.59-10.70, P=0.004), recurrent falls (OR=6.71, 95% CI=1.69-26.63, P=0.007) and high risk of future falls (OR=2.44, 95% CI=1.27-4.70, P=0.007), while women with underweight was only associated with high risk of future falls (OR=1.37, 95% CI=1.01-1.85, P=0.043). Compared with normal weight and overweight, underweight in men had a higher MFS Score (increased by average 7.6 points, P=0.010), yet this trend was not observed in women counterparts. Underweight was associated with incidences of 3-month and future high fall risk in centenarians, which was more pronounced in men. Underweight could be a marker in identifying potential falls in long-lived people, especially men, who need further measures to gaining weight to normal and preventing falling.