Body composition as a frailty marker for the elderly community

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of elderly living in the city of Amparo (State of São Paulo, Brazil), who participated in the study

	Total samplea (average ± SD)	Mena (average ± SD)	Womena (average ± SD)	P-value
Sociodemographic aspects
Age (n=235)	71.76±5.06	71.96±5.01	71.63±5.10	0.532
Education (n=234)	3.55±3.03	3.97±3.47	3.28±2.69	0.289
Income (n=235)	861.39±582.77	1,061.67±543.58	730.23±571.88	<0.001
Behavioral aspects
Sedentarinessb (n=233)	2,473.01±4,025.76	3,866.77±5,331.04	1,547.15±2,465.10	<0.001
Health conditions
MMSE (n=235)	24.58±3.06	25.20±2.88	24.17±3.11	0.014
GDS (n=235)	6.99±1.90	6.87±1.62	7.06±2.06	0.227
Weight loss (in kg) (n=68)	7.29±12.11	6.70±6.37	7.54±13.88	0.871
Frailtyc (n=235)	1.09±1.11	0.65±0.91	1.38±1.13	<0.001
Medication (n=235)d	4.09±2.81	3.60±2.58	4.41±2.92	0.030
Disease number (n=235)	2.88±1.75	2.34±1.53	3.23±1.81	<0.001
BC and physical performance
BMI (n=235)	28.05±4.79	27.77±4.73	28.23±4.84	0.368
Total muscle mass (n=235)	41,456.81±101.31	48,861.74±545.23	36,607.10±4,595.05	<0.001
Total fat mass (n=235)	27,101.54±9,194.29	24,447.12±9,254.60	28,840.00±8,758.86	<0.001
Total bone mass (n=235)	2,228.29±544.73	2,732.75±440.93	1,897.90±296.33	<0.001
Fat % (n=235)	37.80±8.20	31.30±6.67	42.05±6.04	<0.001
Grip strength (n=235)	21.55±8.56	29.09±7.62	16.62±4.64	<0.001
Gait speed (n=234)	4.87±1.94	4.33±1.34	5.22±2.18	<0.001

Notes:

a Average values and standard deviation,

b expenditure on activities in kilocalories,

c number of frailty criteria scored,

d medication number. Data in bold indicates P<0.05.

Abbreviations: BC, body composition; BMI, body mass index; SD, standard deviation; GDS, geriatric depression scale; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination.

Table 2 Analysis of association between body composition components and frailty levels

Variables	Muscle massa	Bone massa	Fat massa	Fat %a	BMIc
NFb	44,264.75±8,580.67	2,467.65±589.17	26,786.47±10,067.59	35.79±8.68	27.90±4.97
PFb	40,349.17±7,429.10	2,114.01±445.04	27,075.20±8,720.14	38.47±7.90	28.15±4.63
Fb	37,017.93±5,933.44	1,924.70±460.61	28,166.96±8,300.26	41.44±6.04	28.15±4.97
P*	P=0.002	P<0.001	P=0.641	P=0.002	P=0.761
	NF ≠ PF and NF ≠ F	NF ≠ PF and NF ≠ F		NF ≠ F

Notes:

a n=235; average values and standard deviation in kilograms.

b NF (n=92); PF (n=113); F (n=30).

c Data are represented as mean ± standard deviation.

* P-value regarding the Kruskal–Wallis test. Data in bold indicates P<0.05.

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; F, frail; NF, nonfrail; PF, prefrail.

Table 3 Analysis of association between body composition components and frailty criteria

Variables	Muscle massa	Bone massa	Fat massa	Fat %	BMI
Grip strengthb
Yes	36,620.79±5,595.32	1,873.33±355.30	29,204.05±9,348.11	42.31±6.71	28.84±5.16
No	42,698.14±8,189.78	2,319.40±548.22	26,561.86±9,101.38	36.64±8.16	27.85±4.68
P-value*	<0.001	<0.001	0.052	<0.001	0.173
Gait speedb
Yes	39,450.08±7,143.59	2,072.79±484.13	29,817.99±9,696.18	41.23±7.74	29.05±4.95
No	41,932.34±8,281.50	2,264.24±553.92	26,453.07±8,992.78	36.98±8.13	27.81±4.74
P-value*	0.125	0.060	0.038	0.002	0.110
Physical activity levelb
Yes	39,565.65±6,491.04	2,094.87±418.51	28,507.80±8,360.27	40.24±6.88	29.12±4.74
No	41,929.60±8,404.68	2,261.64±568.01	26,749.98±9,379.09	37.19±8.40	27.78±4.78
P-value*	0.147	0.141	0.185	0.022	0.092
Weight lossb
Yes	37,967.09±6,428.63	2,046.93±437.32	24,413.67±7,258.95	37.53±7.47	26.48±4.58
No	42,399.98±8,261.74	2,277.31±561.32	27,827.99±9,538.37	37.87±8.40	28.47±4.77
P-value*	<0.001	0.009	0.018	0.884	0.003
Fatigueb
Yes	40,161.56±751,625	2,073.86±504.06	27,075.03±7,161.11	38.91±7.38	28.00±3.64
No	41,931.23±8,275.47	2,284.85±549.47	27,111.25±9,853.22	37.39±8.46	28.07±5.16
P-value*	0.211	0.008	0.482	0.172	0.471

Notes:

a n=235; average values and standard deviation in kilograms.

b Grip strength, weight loss, fatigue, and physical activity level (n=235); gait speed (n=234).

* P-value regarding the Mann–Whitney test. Data in bold indicates P<0.05.

Abbreviation: BMI, body mass index.