Association Between Nutrition Status and Cognitive Impairment Among Chinese Nonagenarians and Centenarians

Background: The association of nutrition status with cognitive impairment has been confirmed by previous studies. However, there are no relevant data from a Chinese oldest old population. Method: Five hundred eighty elderly residents aged 90 years or more were investigated. Socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle habits were collected by using a general questionnaire. Nutritional state was assessed with the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and biochemical parameters, whereas cognitive performance was evaluated by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Multiple Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between cognitive impairment and nutrition status. Results: The total prevalence rate of cognitive impairment was 55.5%, 67 (35.1%) men and 255 (65.6%) women were classified as cognitive impairment. Compared with cognitively impaired subjects, those with normal cognition had a higher MNA score (14.28 +/- 1.89 vs. 13.51 +/- 1.75, p < 0.05), a higher level of hemoglobin (116.53 +/- 16.74 vs. 112.62 +/- 13.82, p < 0.05) and body mass index (BMI) (19.63 +/- 3.8 vs. 18.96 +/- 3.59, p < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between MMSE with MNA (p < 0.05), the level of HGB (p < 0.05) and BMI (p < 0.05). In the multivariate model, malnutrition (OR = 4.24, 95% CI: 1.89-9.52) was the risk factor for cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Among Chinese nonagenarians and centenarians, there were significant associations between nutrition status and cognitive impairment. Further studies should evaluation if maintaining a good nutritional status or nutritional intervention may be effective in the management and prevention of cognitive impairment. Copyright (C) 2017, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.