The Association between Obesity and Quality of Life among the Elderly

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of obesity in the elderly is increasing worldwide. Obesity greatly impacts quality of life(QoL). The present study aimed to investigate the association between obesity and QoL among the elderly, in Tehran, Iran.

Methods: This cross-sectional study (observational) was conducted in 2014 in Tehran, Iran. A total of 421 elderly people aged ≥ 60 years old were recruited using simple random sampling methods. Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured by standard methods; body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight. QoL was evaluated by the Persian language version of the SF-36 questionnaire.The alpha value was set at 0.05 to indicate the statistical significant level. Independent samples t-tests and Chi-square tests were used for comparing the quantitative and categorical variables, respectively. One-way ANOVA, followed by Tukeys’ post-hoc test, was used to compare mean scores of SF-36 scales between BMI groups. Pearson correlation coefficients were used for investigating the relationship between SF-36 scores and anthropometric parameters.

Results: The mean age of participants was 77.6 ± 8.6 years. The frequency of obesity and overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) was 59.4% (57.2% in males and 60.6% in females). Except for the mental health scale, for all other SF-36 scale mean scores, participants with overweight or obesity had lower scores compared to their normal weight counterparts (p < 0.05). Additionally, subjects with underweight had significantly lower scores for the vitality scale (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The results of present study persist on importance of preserving normal weight on improving quality of life in elderly. Although the observed association in this study was bidirectional and prospective studies are needed to investigate the cause and effect relationship.