Trajectories of general and central obesity beyond middle age in relation to late‐life cognitive decline and dementia
Authors' conclusion
General and central obesity trajectories beyond midlife with persistently high or increasing patterns were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia in late life. Longitudinal obesity patterns may assist in precise identification of older adults at risk of developing cognitive impairment for targeted intervention.
Study context
- Population
- Community-based adults beyond middle age; mean age 58.7 (SD 8.1) years; 57% female5 BMI and 4 WC trajectories
- Participants
- 4,751 participants
- Exposure
- Obesity trajectories over 14 years beyond middle age
- Outcome
- Dementia risk and cognitive decline in late life
Methodological detailsnationally representative, longitudinal, community-based, latent mixture modeling, Cox models, linear mixed models
- Nationally representative
- Longitudinal
- Community-based
- Latent mixture modeling
- Cox models
- Linear mixed models
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Dementia risk
Odds ratio (95% CI)
High-stable BMIvs Low-stable BMI
1.43(1.02–2.00)
High-increasing WCvs Low-stable WC
1.57(1.01–2.49)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Difference in 6-year decline (SD) (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive decline · 6 yearsHigh-stable BMIvs Low-stable BMIMore accelerated decline with high-stable BMI | −0.11 (−0.18 to −0.03) | |
| −0.2−0.100.1Difference, SD (linear scale) |
| Outcome | OR (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| Cognitive decline · 6 yearsHigh-increasing WC vs Low-stable WC · swifter decline with high-increasing WC | −0.18 (−0.28 to −0.07) |
Original publication
Trajectories of general and central obesity beyond middle age in relation to late‐life cognitive decline and dementia. Obesity (Silver Spring). Published 28 January 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →