Man-Wook Seo | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Does arm length indicate cognitive and functional reserve?

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine whether arm length and height were associated with cognitive and functional abilities. METHODS: Screening interviews were conducted in 235 community dwelling individuals aged 65 and over. The assessment scales included the Korean version of modified Mini-Mental State Examination (K-mMMSE) for cognition, and the Korean Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (K-IADL) for functional ability. All the participants were examined clinically and a diagnosis of dementia was ascertained. Anthropometric measurements included total arm span and height. RESULTS: Both arm length and height correlated significantly with the cognitive and functional scales. In the multivariate regression models, their associations were significant, independent of age, sex, education, and other variables. Shorter arm length was also significantly associated with dementia; while, height lost significance after an adjustment for the potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Arm length and height could indicate cognitive and functional ability. Arm length, which was known to be less prone to degenerative processes, might be more stable as an indicator for cognitive and functional reserve capacity than height.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Does waist indicate dyslipidemia better than BMI in Korean adult population?

Obesity is an independent and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and known as a core of the metabolic syndrome. Obesity has been largely diagnosed based upon anthrompometric measurements like waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI). We sought to determine associations between anthropometric measurements and dyslipidemia in a community adult sample composed of 1,032 community residents (356 men, 676 women) aged 50 yr and over in Namwon, Korea. Blood tests for lipid profiles, including total cholesterol (TC) and HDL cholesterol (HDL) were performed, and dyslipidemia was defined as TC/HDL greater than 4. Anthropometric measurements included WC, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-hip ratio, and BMI. All anthropometric measures were categorized into quartiles and evaluated for associations with dyslipidemia. TC/HDL showed the significant associations with the anthropometric measures, independently of potential confounders. In women, increases of obesity indexes by quartile analyses showed linear increases of odds ratios for dyslipidemia (p values <0.01 by trend test). In men, except BMI, same patterns of association were noted. WC and WHtR were significantly associated with dyslipidemia in Korean adult population. As a simple and non-invasive method for a detection of obesity and dyslipidemia, anthropometric measurements could be efficiently used in clinical and epidemiologic fields.

Adult↗