Body mass index (BMI) is used worldwide as an indirect measure of nutritional status and has been shown to be associated with mortality. Controversy exists over the cut points associated with lowest mortality, particularly in older populations. In patients suffering from dementia, information on BMI and mortality could improve decisions about patient care.
The objective was to explore the association between BMI and mortality risk in an incident dementia cohort.
Cohort study based on SveDem, the Swedish Quality Dementia Registry; 2008-2011.
Specialist memory clinics, Sweden.
A total of 11,398 patients with incident dementia with data on BMI (28,190 person-years at risk for death).
Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for mortality associated with BMI were calculated, controlling for age, sex, dementia type, results from Mini-Mental State Examination, and number of medications. BMI categories and linear splines were used.
Higher BMI was associated with decreased mortality risk, with all higher BMI categories showing reduced risk relative to patients with BMI of 18.5 to 22.9 kg/m(2), whereas underweight patients (BMI