Reference Values and Age Differences in Body Composition of Community-Dwelling Older Japanese Men and Women: A Pooled Analysis of Four Cohort Studies

OBJECTIVES: To determine age- and sex-specific body composition reference values and investigate age differences in these parameters for community-dwelling older Japanese men and women, using direct segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis. METHODS: We conducted a pooled analysis of data collected in four cohort studies between 2008 and 2012: Kusatsu Longitudinal Study, Hatoyama Cohort Study, Itabashi Cohort Study, and Kashiwa Cohort Study. The pooled analysis included cross-sectional data from 4478 nondisabled, community-dwelling adults aged 65-94 years (2145 men, 2333 women; mean age: 72.9 years in men and 72.6 years in women). Body weight, fat mass (FM), percentage FM, fat-free mass (FFM), and appendicular lean soft tissue mass were measured using the InBody 720 and 430 (Biospace Co. Ltd, Seoul, Korea). The values were then normalized by height in meters squared to determine body mass index (BMI), FM index (FMI), FFM index (FFMI), and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI). RESULTS: Simple means (standard deviation) of BMI, percentage FM, FMI, FFMI, and SMI were 23.4 (2.9) kg/m(2), 24.9 (6.3)%, 5.96 (2.09) kg/m(2), 17.4 (1.5) kg/m(2), and 7.29 (0.76) kg/m(2), respectively, in men and 22.7 (3.3) kg/m(2), 31.7 (7.1)%, 7.40 (2.61) kg/m(2), 15.3 (1.2) kg/m(2), and 5.86 (0.67) kg/m(2), respectively, in women. We then calculated quartiles and quintiles for these indices after stratifying for sex and 5-year age group. FFMI and SMI decreased significantly with age in both sexes (P < 0.001 for trends), but FFMI remained constant among the women with only a 1% decrease up to age 84 years. Percentage FM increased significantly, with age (P < 0.001 in men and P = 0.045 in women for trends), but FMI was unchanged in both sexes (P = 0.147 in men and P = 0.176 in women for trends). CONCLUSION: The present data should be useful in the clinical evaluation of body composition of older Japanese and for international comparisons. The small age-related decrease in FFMI may be a noteworthy characteristic of body composition change in older Japanese women.