Relation between body weight and health-related quality of life among the elderly in Spain

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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relation between body weight and the physical and mental components of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the population aged 60 y and over in Spain. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Cross-sectional study covering 3605 subjects, representative of the noninstitutionalised Spanish population aged 60 y and over. Information was collected through home-based personal interview and measurement of blood pressure and anthropometric variables. Logistic regression was used to examine the relation of suboptimal HRQL (score2), frequency of suboptimal physical functioning was higher among obese subjects (BMI30 kg/m2), both male (OR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.22–3.00) and female (OR: 2.58; 95% CI: 1.59–4.19). The aspects of physical functioning most affected were bending, kneeling or stooping, climbing stairs and strenuous effort. Male, though not female, obesity was nonetheless associated with a better HRQL on the SF-36 mental scales. Frequencies of suboptimal scores for overweight persons (BMI: 25–29.9 kg/m2) were similar to those for normal-weight subjects on most of the SF-36 scales. Results proved similar for subjects in both the 60–74 and 75-and-over age groups, and also when waist circumference was used as the measure of obesity (>102 cm in men and >88 cm in women). CONCLUSIONS: Obese men and women showed worse physical functioning than normal-weight persons. This occurred irrespective of whether subjects were over or under 74 y of age, or whether obesity was measured by BMI or waist circumference, and was not explained by unhealthy lifestyles or obesity-related chronic disease.