title: Relationship between BMI and physical performance among older adults.
abstract: Our objective was to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and physical performance in community-dwelling older adults. This was a descriptive and association study, based on secondary data derived from a population-based epidemiological research involving 316 older adults. The BMI was thus classified: <22.0 kg/m(2), underweight; 22.0 ≤ BMI ≤ 27.0 kg/m(2), adequate; >27.0 kg/m(2), overweight. Physical performance was assessed based on "chair stand", "pick up a pen" and walking tests. Associations between BMI and performance at each test were tested by Cox regression for survival analysis with multiple modeling adjusted by gender and age, adopting a significance level of 5% (α = 0.05). Individuals with underweight (βadjusted = 0.64; p = 0.004), performed poorly in the "chair stand" test when compared to individuals with adequate weight. The BMI was a predictor of good physical function, with underweight being more of a limiting factor than overweight.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Epidemiologia do Envelhecimento (NEPE), Departamento de Saúde, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Av. José Moreira Sobrinho, S/N, Jequiezinho, Jequié, BA 45206-190, Brazil.
authors.forename: Raiana Souza
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Raildo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: da Silva Coqueiro
authors.forename: Aline Rodrigues
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Paloma Andrade
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Marcos Henrique
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: Body mass index; Health of the elderly; Nutritional status; Physical fitness; Time and motion studies