Incident Impaired Cognitive Function in Sarcopenic Obesity: Data From the National Health and Aging Trends Survey.
John A Batsis, Christian Haudenschild, Robert M Roth and 6 others
PMID 34248422WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with low grip strength, with or without obesity, were at significantly higher risk of developing impaired cognitive function over 8 years.
Obesity alone did not increase this risk, suggesting muscle weakness is the primary driver of cognitive decline in this population.
Key findings
01Both sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity were significantly associated with greater incident impaired cognitive function, whereas obesity alone did not increase the risk.
02The association between low grip strength and cognitive impairment persisted across subdomains of executive function, memory, and orientation.
03Adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking, education, physical activity, and comorbid conditions did not markedly alter the hazard ratios for these associations.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study excluded participants with missing data for grip strength or BMI, who were older, less educated, and weaker, which may bias the sample. Height and weight were self-reported rather than objectively measured, potentially affecting BMI accuracy. Physical activity was assessed by a single proxy question about walking, lacking objective measures. The study could not determine causality, only association, due to its observational design. Definitions of sarcopenia and obesity varied, and the study did not use advanced imaging to distinguish subcutaneous from visceral fat.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this study as proving that treating obesity will prevent cognitive decline. The results showed that obesity alone did not increase the risk of impaired cognitive function, and the interaction between sarcopenia and obesity was not significant, suggesting that muscle strength is the primary factor associated with cognitive risk.