P706 - THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OBESITY AND FRAILTY IN THAI OLDER ADULTS: A CROSS- SECTIONAL STUDY

P706

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OBESITY AND FRAILTY IN THAI OLDER ADULTS: A CROSS- SECTIONAL STUDY

N. Ubonsutvanich^1,*

¹Geriatric Excellence Centre, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital,, Bangkok, Thailand

Rationale:  Obesity is linked to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, which can affect the survival rate of older adults. Additionally, older adults tend to experience an increase in abdominal obesity due to the aging process. However, previous research has focused less on the association between frailty and obesity in older adults. 

Objective: The study was to investigate into the associated between frailty and  obesity in different criteria  in Thai community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: This cross-sectional cohort study was conducted in an outpatient geriatric check-up clinic from March 2019 to December 2023. Participants were aged 60 and older and had to be independent in basic activities of daily living to qualify for inclusion. Exclusion criteria included inability to undergo body impedance analysis (BIA), active malignancy, recent hospitalization (within the last three months) for cardiac, pulmonary, or neurovascular diseases, chronic renal diseases requiring renal replacement therapy, and unstable psychiatric disorders.

Frailty was assessed using the frailty phenotype criteria, and visceral fat area (VFA) was measured by BIA. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to estimate the Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI)

Results: We enrolled 2,804 elderly adults, with a mean age of 67.12 ± 5.1 years, of whom 74% were female. According to Asian BMI criteria, 30.2% of participants were classified as obese, and 42.5% had high visceral fat as measured by BIA. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that visceral obesity is associated with prefrailty (OR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.01–1.36) and frailty (OR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.15–3.59).

Conclusion: Visceral fat is a risk factor for prefrailty and frailty in Thai older adults. We aim to implement interventions to reduce visceral fat obesity and monitor visceral fat area in order to improve frailty among Thai older adults.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared