Which body mass index (BMI) is better in the elderly for functional status?

Gulistan BAHAT ÖZTÜRK, Fatih TUFAN, Bulent SAKA, Sibel AKI)N, Hilal ÖZKAYA, Nurullah YÜCEL, Nilgun ERTEN, Mehmet Akif KARAN


A B S T R A C T
BMI is commonly used indicator of malnutrition and 18.5–24.9 kg/m2 is generally regarded optimal. However, there is an ongoing debate on ideal range for elderly. BMI cut-off values vary also between ethnic groups. We aimed to investigate relationships between BMI, functional status and malnutrition in elderly living in a nursing home in Turkey. BMIs of 254 residents were calculated. Chronic diseases and currently used drugs were noted. Functional status was evaluated with Katz-activities-of-daily-living (ADL) and Lawton-instrumental-activities-of-daily-living (IADL). Nutritional assessment was performed by Mini-Nutritional-Assessment (MNA) test. Mean age was 75.2  8.2 years. Subjects were classified into 4 groups as BMI <18.5, 18.5–24.9, 25–29.9, and 30.0 kg/m2. ADL scores and IADL scores were higher in higher BMI groups. There were no differences in terms of age-number of chronic diseases. Even in BMI
35 kg/m2 residents, ADL was significantly higher than 25–34.9 kg/m2 residents. BMI was significantly correlated with ADL and IADL scores. In Groups 3 and 4, there were 22.2% and 9.1% residents without normal nutrition, respectively. Better functional status was associated with higher BMI values even in BMIs 30 kg/ m2. In elderly, relative high rates of undernutrition may be present in BMIs regarded as overweight or obese.

Keywords: Body mass index, Functional status of elderly, Nutrition of elderly malnutrition of the elderly