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Weight, mortality, years of healthy life, and active life expectancy in older adults.

TitleWeight, mortality, years of healthy life, and active life expectancy in older adults.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2008
AuthorsDiehr, P, O'Meara, ES, Fitzpatrick, A, Newman, AB, Kuller, L, Burke, G
JournalJ Am Geriatr Soc
Volume56
Issue1
Pagination76-83
Date Published2008 Jan
ISSN1532-5415
KeywordsActivities of Daily Living, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Mass Index, Body Weight, Female, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Life Expectancy, Life Style, Male, Prognosis, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Survival Rate, United States
Abstract<p><b>OBJECTIVES: </b>To determine whether weight categories predict subsequent mortality and morbidity in older adults.</p><p><b>DESIGN: </b>Multistate life tables, using data from the Cardiovascular Health Study, a longitudinal population-based cohort of older adults.</p><p><b>SETTING: </b>Data were provided by community-dwelling seniors in four U.S. counties: Forsyth County, North Carolina; Sacramento County, California; Washington County, Maryland; and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.</p><p><b>PARTICIPANTS: </b>Five thousand eight hundred eighty-eight adults aged 65 and older at baseline.</p><p><b>MEASUREMENTS: </b>The age- and sex-specific probabilities of transition from one health state to another and from one weight category to another were estimated. From these probabilities, future life expectancy, years of healthy life, active life expectancy, and the number of years spent in each weight and health category after age 65 were estimated.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Women who are healthy and of normal weight at age 65 have a life expectancy of 22.1 years. Of that, they spend, on average, 9.6 years as overweight or obese and 5.3 years in fair or poor health. For both men and women, being underweight at age 65 was associated with worse outcomes than being normal weight, whereas being overweight or obese was rarely associated with worse outcomes than being normal weight and was sometimes associated with significantly better outcomes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>Similar to middle-aged populations, older adults are likely to be or to become overweight or obese, but higher weight is not associated with worse health in this age group. Thus, the number of older adults at a "healthy" weight may be much higher than currently believed.</p>
DOI10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01500.x
Alternate JournalJ Am Geriatr Soc
PubMed ID18031486
PubMed Central IDPMC3865852
Grant ListN01-HC-85085 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
U01 HL080295 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85081 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01 HC015103 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
U01 HL080295-01 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85082 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01HC75150 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85079 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01HC85079 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01 HC045133 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01 HC035129 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85084 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85086 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01HC85086 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85083 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-75150 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85080 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States