Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1510781
This article is part of the Research Topic Lifestyle and Healthy Aging to Prevent Cognitive Decline and Dementia View all 24 articles

Association between weight-adjusted waist index and cognitive impairment in Chinese older men: a 7-year longitudinal study

Provisionally accepted
Jie Lin Jie Lin 1Hongchen Shen Hongchen Shen 2Wenjuan Yang Wenjuan Yang 1Guojun Zhang Guojun Zhang 1Jie Sun Jie Sun 1Wenqin Shen Wenqin Shen 1Li Huang Li Huang 2Huajian Chen Huajian Chen 2*
  • 1 Guali Branch of the First People’s Hospital of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, China
  • 2 Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Obesity, through mechanisms such as insulin resistance and systemic low-grade inflammation, can damage the central nervous system and impair cognitive function. Weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) is a novel measure of obesity that may offer more precise assessments of muscle and fat mass. This study aims to investigate the association between WWI and cognitive function in older Chinese men. Methods: Data from the 2011–2018 China Longitudinal Health and Longevity Survey (CLHLS) were used in this study. WWI and cognitive function were examined in both linear and nonlinear situations using Kaplan-Meier survival curves, multivariate Cox regression models, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression. Results: This study included 1392 older Chinese men aged 65 years and over for whom complete data were available. After controlling for all potential confounding variables, our analysis showed a statistically significant positive association between WWI and cognitive decline. Specifically, for every 1 cm/√kg increase in WWI, the risk of cognitive impairment increased by 17% (HR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.02-1.35). Using 11.52 cm/√kg as the cutoff point for WWI, we found that High WWI was associated with a 44% increased risk of cognitive impairment compared with Low WWI (HR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.07-1.96). RCS regression analysis confirmed a linear positive correlation between WWI and cognitive impairment. Conclusions: Higher WWI is linked to worse cognitive performance in older Chinese men.

    Keywords: weight-adjust waist index, cognitive impairment, older people, Chinese older men, Dementia

    Received: 13 Oct 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Shen, Yang, Zhang, Sun, Shen, Huang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Huajian Chen, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.