Body mass index, muscle strength and physical performance in older adults from eight cohort studies: the HALCyon programme

Rebecca Hardy; Rachel Cooper; Avan Aihie Sayer; Yoav Ben-Shlomo; Cyrus Cooper; Ian J Deary; Panayotes Demakakos; John Gallacher; Richard M Martin; Geraldine McNeill; John M Starr; Andrew Steptoe; Holly Syddall; Diana Kuh; HALCyon Study Team

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056483

Body mass index, muscle strength and physical performance in older adults from eight cohort studies: the HALCyon programme

Rebecca Hardy^*, Rachel Cooper, Avan Aihie Sayer, Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Cyrus Cooper, Ian J Deary, Panayotes Demakakos, John Gallacher, Richard M Martin, Geraldine McNeill, John M Starr, Andrew Steptoe, Holly Syddall, Diana Kuh, HALCyon Study Team

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Objective: To investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI) and grip strength with objective measures of physical performance (chair rise time, walking speed and balance) including an assessment of sex differences and non-linearity.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from eight UK cohort studies (total N = 16 444) participating in the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) research programme, ranging in age from 50 to 90+ years at the time of physical capability assessment, were used. Regression models were fitted within each study and meta-analysis methods used to pool regression coefficients across studies and to assess the extent of heterogeneity between studies.

Results: Higher BMI was associated with poorer performance on chair rise (N = 10 773), walking speed (N = 9 761) and standing balance (N = 13 921) tests. Higher BMI was associated with stronger grip strength in men only. Stronger grip strength was associated with better performance on all tests with a tendency for the associations to be stronger in women than men; for example, walking speed was higher by 0.43 cm/s (0.14, 0.71) more per kg in women than men. Both BMI and grip strength remained independently related with performance after mutual adjustment, but there was no evidence of effect modification. Both BMI and grip strength exhibited non-linear relations with performance; those in the lowest fifth of grip strength and highest fifth of BMI having particularly poor performance. Findings were similar when waist circumference was examined in place of BMI.

Conclusion: Older men and women with weak muscle strength and high BMI have considerably poorer performance than others and associations were observed even in the youngest cohort (age 53). Although causality cannot be inferred from observational cross-sectional studies, our findings suggest the likely benefit of early assessment and interventions to reduce fat mass and improve muscle strength in the prevention of future functional limitations.

Original language	English
Article number	e56483
Number of pages	13
Journal	PloS ONE
Volume	8
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056483
Publication status	Published - 20 Feb 2013

Keywords

follow-up
profile
women
birth cohort
health
functional decline
grip strength
men
metaanalysis
obesity

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1371/journal.pone.0056483

Body mass index
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Aberdeen Birth Cohort Study 1936 (ABC 1936)
Craig, L. (Data Manager), University of Aberdeen, 1997
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/aberdeen-birth-cohort/ and one more link, https://www.abdn.ac.uk/birth-cohorts/1936/for-researchers/data-access/?action=subpage (show fewer)
Dataset

Cite this

Hardy, R., Cooper, R., Sayer, A. A., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Cooper, C., Deary, I. J., Demakakos, P., Gallacher, J., Martin, R. M., McNeill, G., Starr, J. M., Steptoe, A., Syddall, H., Kuh, D., & HALCyon Study Team (2013). Body mass index, muscle strength and physical performance in older adults from eight cohort studies: the HALCyon programme. PloS ONE, 8(2), Article e56483. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056483

Hardy, R, Cooper, R, Sayer, AA, Ben-Shlomo, Y, Cooper, C, Deary, IJ, Demakakos, P, Gallacher, J, Martin, RM, McNeill, G, Starr, JM, Steptoe, A, Syddall, H, Kuh, D & HALCyon Study Team 2013, 'Body mass index, muscle strength and physical performance in older adults from eight cohort studies: the HALCyon programme', PloS ONE, vol. 8, no. 2, e56483. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056483

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abstract = "Objective: To investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI) and grip strength with objective measures of physical performance (chair rise time, walking speed and balance) including an assessment of sex differences and non-linearity.Methods: Cross-sectional data from eight UK cohort studies (total N = 16 444) participating in the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) research programme, ranging in age from 50 to 90+ years at the time of physical capability assessment, were used. Regression models were fitted within each study and meta-analysis methods used to pool regression coefficients across studies and to assess the extent of heterogeneity between studies.Results: Higher BMI was associated with poorer performance on chair rise (N = 10 773), walking speed (N = 9 761) and standing balance (N = 13 921) tests. Higher BMI was associated with stronger grip strength in men only. Stronger grip strength was associated with better performance on all tests with a tendency for the associations to be stronger in women than men; for example, walking speed was higher by 0.43 cm/s (0.14, 0.71) more per kg in women than men. Both BMI and grip strength remained independently related with performance after mutual adjustment, but there was no evidence of effect modification. Both BMI and grip strength exhibited non-linear relations with performance; those in the lowest fifth of grip strength and highest fifth of BMI having particularly poor performance. Findings were similar when waist circumference was examined in place of BMI.Conclusion: Older men and women with weak muscle strength and high BMI have considerably poorer performance than others and associations were observed even in the youngest cohort (age 53). Although causality cannot be inferred from observational cross-sectional studies, our findings suggest the likely benefit of early assessment and interventions to reduce fat mass and improve muscle strength in the prevention of future functional limitations.",

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author = "Rebecca Hardy and Rachel Cooper and Sayer, {Avan Aihie} and Yoav Ben-Shlomo and Cyrus Cooper and Deary, {Ian J} and Panayotes Demakakos and John Gallacher and Martin, {Richard M} and Geraldine McNeill and Starr, {John M} and Andrew Steptoe and Holly Syddall and Diana Kuh and {HALCyon Study Team}",

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AU - Cooper, Cyrus

AU - Deary, Ian J

AU - Demakakos, Panayotes

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AU - Martin, Richard M

AU - McNeill, Geraldine

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N2 - Objective: To investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI) and grip strength with objective measures of physical performance (chair rise time, walking speed and balance) including an assessment of sex differences and non-linearity.Methods: Cross-sectional data from eight UK cohort studies (total N = 16 444) participating in the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) research programme, ranging in age from 50 to 90+ years at the time of physical capability assessment, were used. Regression models were fitted within each study and meta-analysis methods used to pool regression coefficients across studies and to assess the extent of heterogeneity between studies.Results: Higher BMI was associated with poorer performance on chair rise (N = 10 773), walking speed (N = 9 761) and standing balance (N = 13 921) tests. Higher BMI was associated with stronger grip strength in men only. Stronger grip strength was associated with better performance on all tests with a tendency for the associations to be stronger in women than men; for example, walking speed was higher by 0.43 cm/s (0.14, 0.71) more per kg in women than men. Both BMI and grip strength remained independently related with performance after mutual adjustment, but there was no evidence of effect modification. Both BMI and grip strength exhibited non-linear relations with performance; those in the lowest fifth of grip strength and highest fifth of BMI having particularly poor performance. Findings were similar when waist circumference was examined in place of BMI.Conclusion: Older men and women with weak muscle strength and high BMI have considerably poorer performance than others and associations were observed even in the youngest cohort (age 53). Although causality cannot be inferred from observational cross-sectional studies, our findings suggest the likely benefit of early assessment and interventions to reduce fat mass and improve muscle strength in the prevention of future functional limitations.

AB - Objective: To investigate the associations of body mass index (BMI) and grip strength with objective measures of physical performance (chair rise time, walking speed and balance) including an assessment of sex differences and non-linearity.Methods: Cross-sectional data from eight UK cohort studies (total N = 16 444) participating in the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) research programme, ranging in age from 50 to 90+ years at the time of physical capability assessment, were used. Regression models were fitted within each study and meta-analysis methods used to pool regression coefficients across studies and to assess the extent of heterogeneity between studies.Results: Higher BMI was associated with poorer performance on chair rise (N = 10 773), walking speed (N = 9 761) and standing balance (N = 13 921) tests. Higher BMI was associated with stronger grip strength in men only. Stronger grip strength was associated with better performance on all tests with a tendency for the associations to be stronger in women than men; for example, walking speed was higher by 0.43 cm/s (0.14, 0.71) more per kg in women than men. Both BMI and grip strength remained independently related with performance after mutual adjustment, but there was no evidence of effect modification. Both BMI and grip strength exhibited non-linear relations with performance; those in the lowest fifth of grip strength and highest fifth of BMI having particularly poor performance. Findings were similar when waist circumference was examined in place of BMI.Conclusion: Older men and women with weak muscle strength and high BMI have considerably poorer performance than others and associations were observed even in the youngest cohort (age 53). Although causality cannot be inferred from observational cross-sectional studies, our findings suggest the likely benefit of early assessment and interventions to reduce fat mass and improve muscle strength in the prevention of future functional limitations.

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KW - profile

KW - women

KW - birth cohort

KW - health

KW - functional decline

KW - grip strength

KW - men

KW - metaanalysis

KW - obesity

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0056483

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0056483

M3 - Article

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 8

JO - PloS ONE

JF - PloS ONE

IS - 2

M1 - e56483

ER -

Body mass index, muscle strength and physical performance in older adults from eight cohort studies: the HALCyon programme

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Datasets

Aberdeen Birth Cohort Study 1936 (ABC 1936)

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