Longitudinal Associations Between Weight‐Adjusted Waist Index and Cognition in Middle‐Aged and Older Adults in China
Authors' conclusion
Results indicated that higher WWI was significantly associated with lower cognitive scores. Moreover, in the highest WWI tertile, cognitive function exhibited a higher rate of decline. It is imperative to implement public health measures promoting effective abdominal obesity control strategies, thereby mitigating the burden of dementia.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged over 50 years at baseline in China (CHARLS); mean age 61.12 ± 7.45 years32,498 observations
- Participants
- 8,240 adults
- Exposure
- Higher vs lower weight-adjusted waist index (WWI); highest tertile (T3) vs lowest tertile (T1)
- Outcome
- Global cognition (fluid and crystallised dimensions), standardised scores
Methodological detailslongitudinal, five waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2020), linear mixed effects models, restricted cubic splines
- Longitudinal
- Five waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2020)
- Linear mixed effects models
- Restricted cubic splines
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Global cognition, β per 1-SD WWI increase
−0.064
95% CI −0.089, −0.038
Fluid cognition, β per 1-SD WWI increase
−0.064
95% CI −0.089, −0.038
Crystallised cognition, β per 1-SD WWI increase
−0.046
95% CI −0.070, −0.022
Nonlinear WWI–global cognition relationship, inflection at standardised WWI −0.2 (11.04 cm/ kg)
p-non-linear = 0.026
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Cognitive trajectories by WWI tertile · over 10 years
- Cumulative difference in global cognition per 1-SD WWI difference
- 0.123 SD
- Cumulative global cognition deficit, T3 vs T1
- 0.141 SD
- T3 vs T1: lower baseline cognitive scores and faster age-related cognitive decline
- Pattern more pronounced for fluid cognitive function
Original publication
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