Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2011 Apr;23(3):387-94. doi: 10.1017/S1041610210001390. Epub 2010 Aug 25.
The relationship between weight and dementia risk has not been investigated in populations with relatively low body mass index (BMI) such as the Yoruba. This study set out to achieve this objective using a prospective observational design.
The setting was Idikan Ward in Ibadan City, Nigeria. The participants were all aged 65 years or older and were enrolled in the Indianapolis-Ibadan Dementia Project. Repeated cognitive assessments and clinical evaluations were conducted to identify participants with dementia or MCI during 10 years of follow-up (mean duration: 5.97 years). BMI measures, information on alcohol, smoking history, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, stroke and depression were collected at each follow-up evaluation. Mixed effect models adjusted for covariates were used to examine the differences in BMI among participants who developed dementia or MCI and those who remained cognitively normal during the follow-up.
This analysis included 1559 participants who had no dementia at their first BMI measurements. There were 136 subjects with incident dementia, 255 with MCI and 1168 with normal cognition by the end of the study. The mean BMI at baseline was higher for female participants (22.31; SD = 4.39) than for male (21.09; SD = 3.61, p < 0.001). A significantly greater decline in BMI was found in those with either incident dementia (p < 0.001) or incident MCI (p < 0.001) compared to normal subjects.
Decline in BMI is associated with incident MCI and dementia in elderly Yoruba. This observation calls for close monitoring of weight loss in elderly individuals which may indicate future cognitive impairment for timely detection and tailored interventions.
在身体质量指数（BMI）相对较低的人群中，如约鲁巴人，体重与痴呆风险之间的关系尚未得到研究。本研究旨在通过前瞻性观察设计来实现这一目标。
研究地点在尼日利亚伊巴丹市的伊迪坎病房。参与者均为 65 岁或以上的老年人，他们参加了印第安纳波利斯-伊巴丹痴呆症项目。在 10 年的随访期间（平均持续时间：5.97 年），进行了多次认知评估和临床评估，以确定患有痴呆症或 MCI 的参与者。在每次随访评估时，均测量 BMI，并收集有关酒精、吸烟史、癌症、高血压、糖尿病、心脏病发作、中风和抑郁的信息。使用混合效应模型调整协变量，以检查在随访期间发展为痴呆症或 MCI 的参与者和保持认知正常的参与者之间 BMI 的差异。
本分析包括在首次 BMI 测量时没有痴呆症的 1559 名参与者。在研究结束时，有 136 名受试者患有新发痴呆症，255 名受试者患有 MCI，1168 名受试者认知正常。基线时女性参与者的平均 BMI 较高（22.31；SD=4.39），而男性参与者的平均 BMI 较低（21.09；SD=3.61，p<0.001）。与正常受试者相比，患有新发痴呆症（p<0.001）或新发 MCI（p<0.001）的参与者 BMI 下降幅度更大。
BMI 的下降与老年约鲁巴人新发 MCI 和痴呆症有关。这一观察结果呼吁密切监测老年人的体重减轻情况，这可能表明未来的认知障碍，以便及时发现并采取针对性的干预措施。
