title: Elevated body mass index and mortality risk in the elderly.
abstract: The purpose of this report was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the studies examining the impact of an elevated body mass index (BMI) on mortality risk in elderly (> or =65 years) men and women. A variance-based method of meta-analysis was used to summarize the relationships from available studies. The summary relative risk of all-cause mortality from the 26 analyses that included a risk estimate for a BMI within the overweight range was 1.00 (95% confidence intervals, 0.97-1.03). The summary relative risk of all-cause mortality for the 28 analyses that included a risk estimate for a BMI within the obese range was 1.10 (1.06-1.13). These calculations indicate that a BMI in the overweight range is not associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality in the elderly, while a BMI in the moderately obese range is only associated with a modest increase in mortality risk.
authors.affiliation: School of Physical and Health Education, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. janssen@post.queensu.ca
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mark
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000401:mortality*; D012307:Risk Factors