ArticleAge and ageing2023
Weight loss, visit-to-visit body weight variability and cognitive function in older individuals.
Article in Age and ageing, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Body weight and BMI variability linked to dementia risk: A meta-analysis.Biomolecules & biomedicine · 2025Pooled it
- Midlife depressive symptoms, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and obesity modify the association of long-term vascular risk factor variability from childhood with midlife cognitive function: The Bogalusa Heart Study.International journal of cardiology. Cardiovascular risk and prevention · 2026Article
- Genetic and Environmental Effects on BMI Fluctuation Across the Adult Life Course and Its Associations With Baseline BMI and BMI Change: An Individual-Based Study of 14 Longitudinal Twin Cohorts.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2026Article
- Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene exposure, cognition, and cortical thickness at middle age in US Latinas (the CHAMACOS Maternal Cognition Study): a prospective cohort study.The Lancet. Planetary health · 2026Article
- Variability in body weight and body composition and cognitive trajectories in older adults in the United States.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2025Article
- Visit-to-visit body mass index variability in relation to longitudinal cognitive changes in Chinese adults: a retrospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The obesity paradox in cognitive decline: Impact of BMI dynamics and APOE genotypes across various cognitive status.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Article
- Association between geriatric nutritional risk index and cognitive function in older adults with/without chronic kidney disease.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- BMI, weight change, appetite reduction and cognitive impairment of elderly patients with diabetes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveto investigate the association between variability and loss of body weight with subsequent cognitive performance and activities of daily living in older individuals.
designcross-sectional cohort study.
settingPROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk, multicentre trial with participants from Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. SUBJECTS: 4,309 participants without severe cognitive dysfunction (mean age 75.1 years, standard deviation (SD) = 3.3), at higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
methodsbody weight was measured every 3 months for 2.5 years. Weight loss was defined as an average slope across all weight measurements and as ≥5% decrease in baseline body weight during follow-up. Visit-to-visit variability was defined as the SD of weight measurements (kg) between visits. Four tests of cognitive function were examined: Stroop test, letter-digit coding test (LDCT), immediate and delayed picture-word learning tests. Two measures of daily living activities: Barthel Index (BI) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). All tests were examined at month 30.
resultsboth larger body weight variability and loss of ≥5% of baseline weight were independently associated with worse scores on all cognitive tests, but minimally with BI and IADL. Compared with participants with stable weight, participants with significant weight loss performed 5.83 seconds (95% CI 3.74; 7.92) slower on the Stroop test, coded 1.72 digits less (95% CI -2.21; -1.13) on the LDCT and remembered 0.71 pictures less (95% CI -0.93; -0.48) on the delayed picture-word learning test.
conclusionin older people at higher risk for CVD, weight loss and variability are independent risk-factors for worse cognitive function.
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