Does dynapenic abdominal obesity accelerate the decline in physical performance in older adults?
Abstract Background There are few epidemiological evidences of sex differences in the association between dynapenic abdominal obesity and the decline in physical performance among older adults. Objectives To investigate whether the decline in physical performance is worse in individuals with dynapenic abdominal obesity and whether there are sexes differences in this association. Methods A longitudinal analysis was conducted with 3,881 participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing aged 60 years or older in an eight-year follow-up period. The outcome was physical performance evaluated using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Abdominal obesity was determined based on waist circumference (> 102 cm for men and > 88 cm for women). Dynapenia was determined based on grip strength (< 26 kg for men < 16 kg for women). The sample was divided into four different groups: non-dynapenic/non-abdominal obese (ND/NAO); non-dynapenic/abdominal obese (ND/AO); dynapenic/non-abdominal obese (D/NAO); and dynapenic/abdominal obese (D/AO). Changes in SPPB performance levels in these groups, stratified by sex, were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models adjusted by sociodemographic, behavioral and clinical characteristics. Results At baseline, women with D/AO had the worst performance on the SPPB among the groups analyzed (-1.557 points; 95% CI: -1.915 to -1.199; p < 0.001), and men with D/AO had a worse performance on the SPPB compared to those in the ND/NAO and ND/AO groups (-1.179 points; 95% CI: -1.639 to -0.717; p < 0.001). Over the eight-year follow-up, men with D/AO had a faster decline in performance on the SPPB compared to those in the ND/NAO group (-0.106 points per year; 95% CI: -0.208 to -0.004; p < 0.05). Conclusion Dynapenic abdominal obesity accelerates the decline in physical performance in men but not women.