Albumin, haemoglobin, BMI and cognitive performance in older adults.
OBJECTIVE
to examine the relationships between serum albumin, haemoglobin and body mass index (BMI) with cognitive performance among community-living older adults.


METHODS
design--population-based cross-sectional study; setting--local community in Southeast Region of Singapore; subjects--Chinese older adults aged 55 and above (N = 2, 550); measurements--serum albumin, haemoglobin, BMI and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).


RESULTS
in multivariable analyses controlling for gender, age, education and vascular risk factors, low albumin in the bottom quintile (OR 2.04; 95% CI 1.22-3.41) and low haemoglobin in the bottom quintile (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.00-2.47) and low BMI with chronic comorbidity (OR 1.73; 95%CI 1.02-2.95) were independently associated with poor cognitive performance (MMSE < or = 23). Among cognitively intact respondents (MMSE > or = 24), albumin concentration showed a significant inverse linear relationship with MMSE scores (P for trend =0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
low albumin, low haemoglobin and low BMI (in the presence of chronic comorbidity) are independently associated with poor cognitive performance in community-living older adults.
Ng
Te-Pin
TP
Gerontological Research Programme, National University of Singapore, Singapore. pcmngtp@nus.edu.sg
Feng
Lei
L
Niti
Mathew
M
Yap
Keng Bee
KB
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism*
D006454:Hemoglobins; D012709:Serum Albumin