Association between cognitive performance and sarcopenic obesity in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease

Sarcopenic obesity (SO), the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and obesity, is associated with functional loss, frailty, and incapacity in older adults. Recently, SO was associated with reduced cognitive performance in adults. However, no SO studies have been done with older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to verify the occurrence of SO and associated factors in 43 older adults with AD. METHODS: We applied the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). SO was verified by using dual-emission X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: We found five women with SO. Women had higher body fat and lower muscle mass compared with men. There was a significant relationship between body fat and cognitive performance only in men (r=0.65; p<0.01) adjusted by age and education. Men with obesity and aged >75 years had better cognitive performance compared with non-obese men aged <75 years (p=0.010) and women with obesity aged >75 years (p=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Women with AD had higher body fat and lower muscle mass than men. SO occurs in older women with AD. Men with higher body fat showed better cognitive performance, independent of age and education.