Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, 4565 Queen Mary, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3W 1W5. bryna.shatenstein@umontreal.ca
Source
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001 Aug;56(8):M483-8
Numerous changes in body composition occur with aging. This study reports on secondary analyses of data from a subsample of institutionalized and free-living elderly Canadians taking part in both phases of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA-1 and CHSA-2; n = 10,263) to document and examine correlates of the evolution of anthropometric characteristics over a 5-year period.
In CSHA-1, community-dwelling (n = 1464) and institutionalized (n = 963) participants' height and weight were measured in clinics. Surviving participants were remeasured in CSHA-2; valid data were available for 487 community-dwelling respondents (66.9% of those seen in clinics in CSHA-2) and 140 institutionalized participants (46.9% of those reassessed). Body mass index (BMI = weight [kg]/height [m(2)]) was calculated. Paired t tests were used to test changes over the interval, and repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine the extent of differences within and across categories.
The average weight loss between study phases in community-dwelling and institutionalized participants was approximately 2 kg (p