The association between obesity and severe disability among adults aged 50 or over in nine high-income, middle-income and low-income countries: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective The association between obesity and disability may differ between high-income and low-income/middle-income countries but there are no studies comparing this association between these settings. The aim of the study was to assess this association in nine countries using nationally-representative data from the Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE) study and the WHO's Study on global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE). Design Population-based cross-sectional study Setting The survey was conducted in China, Finland, Ghana, India, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Spain between 2007 and 2012. Participants 42 116 individuals 50 years and older. The institutionalised and those with limited cognition were excluded. Primary outcome measure Disability was defined as severe or extreme difficulty in conducting at least one of six types of basic activities of daily living (ADL). Results The mean body mass index (BMI) ranged from 20.4 kg/m2 in India to 30.7 kg/m2 in South Africa. Compared to normal BMI (18.5–24.9 kg/m2), BMI≥35 kg/m2 was associated with significantly higher odds for ADL disability in Finland (OR 4.64), Poland (OR 2.77), South Africa (OR 2.19) and Spain (OR 2.42). Interaction analysis showed that obese individuals in high-income countries were more likely to have ADL limitations than those in low-income or middle-income countries. Conclusions The higher odds for disability among obese individuals in high-income countries may imply longer life lived with disability due to factors such as the decline in cardiovascular disease mortality. In South Africa, this may have been due to the exceptionally high prevalence of class III obesity. These findings underscore the importance of obesity prevention to reduce the disability burden among older adultsAK’s work was supported by the Miguel Servet contract financed by the CP13/00150 project, integrated into the National R+D+I and funded by the ISCIII—General Branch Evaluation and Promotion of Health Research—and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF-FEDER). BO’s work was supported by the Sara Borrell postdoctoral programme (reference no. CD12/ 00429) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain). WHO’s Study on global AGEing and adult health is supported by the USA National Institute on Aging’s Division of Behavioral and Social Research through Interagency Agreements (OGHA 04034785; YA1323-08-CN-0020; Y1-AG-1005-01) and through research grants (R01-AG034479 and R21-AG034263) and the WHO’s Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement number 223071 (COURAGE in Europe), from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FIS research grants number PS09/00295 and PS09/01845 and from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation ACI-Promociona (ACI2009-1010). The study was also supported by the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos II