Published in:
01-07-2017
The impact of multimorbidity on resting metabolic rate in community-dwelling women over a ten-year period: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study
Published in: The journal of nutrition, health & aging | Issue 7/2017
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Objectives
Ageing has been associated with increasing multimorbidity. This study investigated whether the number of diseases is a predictor of resting metabolic rate (RMR) and its long-term changes in community-dwelling elderly women.
Subjects and Design
Cross-sectional and longitudinal data, obtained over ten years with repeated follow-ups, from 180 women aged 60–86 years and with a BMI of 18–43 kg/m2 at baseline were analyzed.
Measurements
RMR was measured using indirect calorimetry and body composition by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Diagnosed diseases were assessed by a questionnaire comprising 23 disease categories. Subjects with 0–2 diseases were classified as relatively healthy and with > 2 diseases as multimorbid.
Results
At baseline, relatively healthy (N = 75) and multimorbid (N = 105) women did not differ in RMR. During the ten-year follow-up, the median (range) number of diseases increased from 2 (0–2) to 4 (0–8) in relatively healthy and from 5 (3–11) to 7 (3–15) in multimorbid women. In the longitudinal analyses, only women who were multimorbid at baseline showed a significant increase in RMR of 31 kJ/d per additional disease (P = 0.015), adjusted for fat-free mass, fat mass, waist circumference and age.
Conclusion
Increasing multimorbidity in community-dwelling women is associated with an increase in RMR independently of body composition and age.