ABSTRACT
Sarcopenic obesity (SO), the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and obesity, is associated with functional loss, frailty, and incapacity in older adults. Recently, SO was associated with reduced cognitive performance in adults. However, no SO studies have been done with older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Objective: The objective of this study was to verify the occurrence of SO and associated factors in 43 older adults with AD. Methods: We applied the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). SO was verified by using dual-emission X-ray absorptiometry. Results: We found five women with SO. Women had higher body fat and lower muscle mass compared with men. There was a significant relationship between body fat and cognitive performance only in men (r=0.65; p<0.01) adjusted by age and education. Men with obesity and aged >75 years had better cognitive performance compared with non-obese men aged <75 years (p=0.010) and women with obesity aged >75 years (p=0.033). Conclusions: Women with AD had higher body fat and lower muscle mass than men. SO occurs in older women with AD. Men with higher body fat showed better cognitive performance, independent of age and education.
A obesidade sarcopênica (SO), coocorrência de sarcopenia e obesidade, está associada à perda funcional, à fragilidade e à incapacidade em idosos. Recentemente, verificou-se que a SO está associada ao desempenho cognitivo reduzido em adultos. No entanto, não foram feitos estudos de SO em idosos com doença de Alzheimer (AD). Objetivo: Verificar a ocorrência de obesidade sarcopênica e fatores associados em 43 adultos idosos com doença de Alzheimer. Métodos: Aplicamos o miniexame do estado mental (MEEM) e a avaliação clínica da demência (CDR). A SO foi verificada utilizando a absorciometria de dupla emissão de raios X. Resultados: Foram classificadas cinco idosas com SO. As mulheres idosas tinham maior gordura corporal e menor massa muscular em comparação com os homens. Houve relação significativa, ajustada por idade e educação, entre gordura corporal e desempenho cognitivo apenas nos homens (r=0,65; p<0,01). Os homens com obesidade e com mais de 75 anos tiveram melhor desempenho cognitivo em comparação com os homens não obesos <75 anos (p=0,010) e com as mulheres com obesidade >75 anos (p=0,033). Conclusões: As mulheres com AD tinham maior gordura corporal e menor massa muscular do que os homens. A SO ocorreu em mulheres mais velhas com AD. Os homens com maior gordura corporal apresentaram melhor desempenho cognitivo, independentemente da idade e da educação.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: elderly's malnutrition is linked, among other factors, to chronic-degenerative diseases, requiring an improvement in the clinical evaluation of nutritional status of this population. Studies have tried to find out new tools to assess aged-people nutritional status. One of most used scales to investigate nutritional status on geriatric patients is the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). OBJECTIVE: the present study aims to evaluate nutritional status of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, by comparison with a control group, via Mini Nutritional Assessment. METHODS: a cross-sectional study, which includes 35 alzheimer's old-people and 43 control old-people, was performed evaluating nutritional status with MNA. RESULTS: total score of MNA in the alzheimer group shows that 71.42% were in malnutrition risk, 14.28% were malnourished and 14.25% presented normal nutritional status. In addition, in the control group 79.06% of patients (n = 34) were classified as having normal nutritional status and 20.93% (n = 9), as being at risk of malnutrition. CONCLUSION: results reinforce the purpose that MNA can be used as a proper instrument to evaluate nutritional status in elderly, mainly in AD, because measuring risk and nutritional status of this population is indispensable.
