title: Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing: prospective evaluation of anthropometric indices in terms of four year mortality in community-living older adults.
abstract: The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) aims to identify factors that contribute to & predict the health & social well-being of older Australians. Analyses were performed to determine the predictive value of anthropometric measurements in older Australians for four-year mortality. Weight, height, skinfolds (triceps, abdominal, supra-spinale, sub-scapular, medial calf, and front thigh) & girth (arm, waist, hip, calf) measurements were performed on a randomly selected community-living sample of 772 men & 624 women aged>70 years. Waist: Hip, % weight loss, corrected-arm-muscle area (CAMA) & BMI were calculated. These measures were categorised into quartiles & also according to commonly adopted definitions of nutritional status. Cox regression analysis was undertaken to assess the predictive value of the independent anthropometric variables for four-year mortality, adjusting for potential confounders (age, gender, marital status, smoking, alcohol status, self-rated health, basic activities of daily living & co-morbidity). Risk of four-year mortality increased with weight loss >10% over two years (HR=2.53, CI=1.37-4.67) & CAMA <21.4cm2(M) & <21.6cm2(F) (HR=1.93, CI=1.03-3.60) independent of confounding variables. These results confirm that selected anthropometric indices (weight loss, CAMA) independently increase the risk of four-year mortality & highlights their potential use in the nutrition screening and assessment of community-living older adults.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation & Ageing Studies Unit, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park SA, Australia. maria.crotty@flinders.edu.au
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crotty
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giles
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bannerman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cobiac
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andrews
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000886:Anthropometry; D001315:Australia; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors