Visceral Fat Obesity Correlates with Frailty in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Abstract

Background

Frailty and obesity are associated with poor outcomes in older adults. Previous studies have shown that excessive visceral fat leads to frailty by promoting inflammation. However, the association between visceral fat obesity (VFO) and frailty has not been elucidated. We aimed to investigate the correlation between VFO and frailty in middle-aged and older adults.

Methods

A total of 483 adults aged ≥45 years were recruited. Estimated visceral fat area (eVFA) and total fat (TF) were determined by bioimpedance analysis. Waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were recorded. Frailty was assessed using the Fried frailty phenotype. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between frailty and other variables. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the correlations between the frailty phenotype score, eVFA/TF, and other factors.

Results

Frail adults were older and had higher waist circumference, eVFA metabolic indicators, and coronary artery disease incidence. Participants with frailty had a higher prevalence of VFO than those without. After adjusting for age, sex, and chronic diseases, frailty was associated with eVFA but not waist circumference, WHR, or BMI. Spearman correlation analysis showed that the frailty phenotype score was positively associated with eVFA and BMI in women but not men. After adjusting for age, frailty was not associated with BMI or WHR. The eVFA/TF ratio was negatively correlated with grip strength and walking speed and positively correlated with the clinical frailty scale score in middle-aged and older adults.

Conclusion

Middle-aged and older adults with VFO had a higher risk of frailty. Frailty was associated with a higher eVFA but not with BMI or WHR. The frailty score was positively associated with eVFA and BMI in women, but not in men. A higher eVFA was correlated with worse physical function, even after adjusting for TF.

Keywords:

• visceral fat obesity
• visceral fat area
• frailty
• middle-aged and older adults

Ethical Standards

This study was approved by the ethics committee of Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University. Information was only collected after written consent was obtained from all participants. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Tong Ji, Ying Li, Yiming Pan, Yumeng Chen, Ou Zhao, Shijie Li, Guanzhen Wang, Jiatong Li, Xiaojun Li, Wanshu Zhang, and Li Zhang for their support in data collection for this study.

Disclosure

All authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFC2008604).