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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1415360
This article is part of the Research Topic Gender Differences in Falls and Mobility Patterns of Older Adults View all 5 articles

Effects of BMI and grip strength on elderly's falls--A longitudinal study based on CHARLS

Provisionally accepted
Lei Huang Lei Huang 1*Yuliang Zou Yuliang Zou 2Xiaoxin Shen Xiaoxin Shen 1*Yu Lu Yu Lu 1*Yanming Wang Yanming Wang 1*
  • 1 Wuhan Wuchang Hospital( Wuchang Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology), Wuhan, China
  • 2 School of Public Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

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

    Background Body Mass Index (BMI) and grip strength are potentially important risk factors for falls among the elderly. Currently, there is no consensus on the combined effects of grip strength and BMI on falls in the elderly, particularly among the Chinese elderly. Objective To investigate the incidence of falls among elderly in China and explore the association between BMI and grip strength and the risk of falls in elderly. Methods Data of participants over 60 in China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2011 and 2013 were collected. Sociodemographic variables, lifestyle, chronic disease status, history of falls and depression and cognitive status were obtained through the 2011 baseline questionnaire. Height, weight and grip strength were collected from a unified physical examination in 2011. Falls during the follow-up period were obtained through the follow-up questionnaire in 2013. Logistic regression was used to explore the association between BMI and grip strength and the risk of falls. Results 3685 participants over 60 (67.14 ± 6.08) were included, with a fall incidence rate of 17.37%. The fall incidence rate in females (21.15%) was higher than that in male (13.46%). After adjusting covariates, high grip strength was associated with lower falls risks in general population (OR=0.76; 95CI: 0.630–0.923) and males (OR=0.68; 95CI: 0.503–0.919). Underweight was associated with lower falls risks in general population (OR=0.77; 95CI: 0.595–0.981) and females (OR=0.69; 95CI: 0.486–0.962) compared to the normal BMI group. Compared with the low grip strength group, females with high grip strength (OR=0.54; 95CI: 0.29–0.98) had a lower risk of falls in the underweight BMI group and males with high grip strength (OR=0.63; 95CI: 0.43–0.92) had lower risk of falls in the normal BMI group. Conclusions High grip strength and underweight BMI are independently correlated with a lower fall risk, which varies between males and females.

    Keywords: Elderly, BMI - body mass index, Grip strength, Gender difference, falls

    Received: 10 Apr 2024; Accepted: 30 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Huang, Zou, Shen, Lu and Wang. 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:
    Lei Huang, Wuhan Wuchang Hospital( Wuchang Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology), Wuhan, China
    Xiaoxin Shen, Wuhan Wuchang Hospital( Wuchang Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology), Wuhan, China
    Yu Lu, Wuhan Wuchang Hospital( Wuchang Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology), Wuhan, China
    Yanming Wang, Wuhan Wuchang Hospital( Wuchang Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology), Wuhan, China

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