Body weight, body fat and skeletal muscle status in elderly patients with diabetes

Abstract

Objective To investigate the status of body weight, total body fat and skeletal muscle in elderly patients with diabetes. Methods A total of 71 elderly diabetic patients (study group) who met entry criteria and signed informed consent were consecutively enrolled, and 70 healthy subjects (control group) matched for age and gender were selected into the study. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), total body fat (TBF), abdominal fat (AF), visceral fat (VF), visceral fat area (VFA), fat-free mass (FFM), total body muscle (TBM), skeletal muscle (SM), skeletal muscle height index (SMHI) and grip strength (GS) were measured by anthropometry and multi-frequency bioelectric impedance analysis. The rate of low weight, overweight and obesity was judged by BMI; the rate of abdominal obesity by WHR; and the status of muscle by TBM, SM, MHI and GS. Results The two groups were comparable at baseline. Compared to the control group, the rate of low weight [36.6% (26/71) vs. 20.0% (14/70), χ2=4.791, P=0.039], weight loss [(1.37±1.57)kg vs. (0.82±1.12)kg, t=2.402, P=0.018], ratio of people who experienced weight loss>5% in 3 months [22.5% (16/71) vs. 8.6% (6/70), χ2=5.219, P=0.035], TBF%[(32.3±5.0)% vs. (30.3±5.2)%, t=2.294, P=0.023], WHR(0.91±0.55 vs. 0.87±0.51, t=2.661, P=0.009), the rate of abdominal obesity[49.3% (35/71) vs. 25.7%(18/70), χ2=8.355, P=0.005], AF[(12.1±3.4)kg vs. (10.3±3.6)kg, t=2.981, P=0.003], VF[(2.9±0.8)kg vs.(2.5±0.9)kg, t=2.853, P=0.005] and VFA[(99.8±26.3)cm2vs. (84.9±31.1)cm2,t=3.045, P=0.003] were increased significantly in study group, while the FFM[(34.9±7.5)kg vs. (37.9±5.6)kg, t=-2.691, P=0.008], SM[(25.8±4.5)kg vs.(27.3±3.5)kg, t=-2.140, P=0.034], SMHI[(9.4±1.8)kg/m2vs. (10.2±1.5)kg/m2,t=-3.081, P=0.002] and GS[(29.3±6.6)kg vs. (31.8±5.7)kg, t=-2.406, P=0.017] were decreased significantly in study group. Conclusion Abnormal weight, abdominal obesity and loss of skeletal muscle were more likely to be observed in elderly patients with diabetes. Key words: Diabetes mellitus; Aged; Body fat; Obesity, abdominal; Skeletal muscle; Grip strength