A Cross-Sectional Study on the Association between Body Mass Index and Frailty According to Sex in Elderly Patients with Disabilities from an Elderly Day-Care Center

The association between body mass index (BMI) and frailty in elderly patients with disabilities is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between BMI and frailty in the elderly with disabilities according to sex. This cross-sectional study included 280 elderly patients with disabilities from an elderly daycare center. BMI classification for the Asian population was used to categorize the patients into four groups: underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. Frailty score was based on the phenotypic definition of frailty and consisted of five criteria derived from the revised Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study. Those who had three or more criteria were considered frail. Logistic regression models were constructed to investigate the associations between frailty and BMI in each group (males and females). In females, being underweight was significantly associated with frailty after adjusting for confounders (age and Mini-Mental State Examination score); after adding medical history as a confounder, the aforementioned association was not significant. In males, BMI was not significantly associated with frailty. The association between BMI and frailty differed according to sex among the elderly with disabilities. This finding provides important information regarding frailty risk to workers in daycare facilities.