Associations of truncal body composition with cognitive status in patients with dementia

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundCognitive impairment is one of the most common age‐related diseases, and there are many modifiable risk factors, such as obesity and sarcopenia, which are extensively researched these days. Although many studies examined the relationship between obesity and cognitive impairment, the common methods to measure obesity have a limitation that they do not accurately measure truncal fat. Moreover, as truncal muscles are an indispensable component for movement for activity, it could be expected that the many truncal muscles are related to better cognitive functions. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between truncal body composition (fat and muscle) and cognitive impairment in patients with dementia in Korea.MethodFemale over 60 years of age with probable Alzheimer’s Disease were recruited between November 2014 and September 2015. The Mini‐Mental state examination, Global deterioration scale and Clinical dementia rating scale were used to assess the cognitive functions. Both truncal fat and muscle mass were measured using body dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry, and used as a percentage of body weight (TMM% and TFM%). Correlations between truncal composition and cognitive status were assessed by simple correlation analysis, which was followed by partial correlation analysis with age, educational years.ResultTFM% was not related to cognitive impairment. In contrast, TMM% had a significantly negative correlation with all three cognitive assessment scores. After further adjusting for age and educational years, there was still a relationship between TMM% and cognitive functionsConclusionWhile truncal fat mass showed no relevance with cognitive functions, the truncal muscle mass was negatively correlated with cognitive status. The truncal muscle mass is thought to affect cognitive status in dementia patients somehow.