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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307081
Title: The associations between diet quality, body mass index (BMI) and health and activity limitation index (HALEX) in the Geisinger Rural Aging Study (GRAS)

Author
item FORD, DARA - Pennsylvania State University
item JENSEN, GORDON - Pennsylvania State University
item STILL, CHRISTOPHER - Geisinger Medical Center
item WOOD, C - Geisinger Medical Center
item MITCHELL, DIANE - Pennsylvania State University
item ERICKSON, P - Pennsylvania State University
item BAILEY, R - National Institute Of Health (INSA)
item SMICIKLAS-WRIGHT, HELEN - Pennsylvania State University
item COFFMAN, D - Pennsylvania State University
item HARTMAN, T - Emory University

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/16/2013
Publication Date: 2/1/2014
Citation: Ford, D.W., Jensen, G.L., Still, C., Wood, C., Mitchell, D.C., Erickson, P., Bailey, R., Smiciklas-Wright, H., Coffman, D.L., Hartman, T.J. 2014. The associations between diet quality, body mass index (BMI) and health and activity limitation index (HALEX) in the Geisinger Rural Aging Study (GRAS). Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging. 18(2):167-170.

Interpretive Summary: Life expectancy continues to rise and the increase in length of life does not necessarily equate with an increase in quality of life. Associations between diet quality, weight status and quality of life are not well understood. This study examined the association between diet quality as measured by the health and activity index (HALex), diet quality as measured by the Dietary Screening Tool (DST), and body mass index in the GRAS population. HALex scores were lower for those participants categorized with poorer dietary quality compared to those with higher diet quality scores. HALex scores were also lower for underweight or obese participants compared to those with weight status in the normal range. The findings provide a better understanding of the relationships between quality of life, diet quality and weight status in an aging population. Greater understanding of the factors that impact health related quality of life in an aging population with a high prevalence of chronic health conditions can guide interventions to improve quality of life.

Technical Abstract: Objectives To determine the associations between diet quality, body mass index (BMI), and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as assessed by the health and activity limitation index (HALex) in older adults. Design Multivariate linear regression models were used to analyze associations between Dietary Screening Tool (DST) scores, BMI and HALex score, after controlling for gender, age, education, living situation, smoking, disease burden and self-vs. proxy reporting. Setting Geisinger Rural Aging Study, Pennsylvania. Participants: 5,993 GRAS participants were mailed HRQOL and DST questionnaires with 4,009 (1,722 male, 2,287 female; mean age 81.5 ± 4.4) providing complete data. Results: HALex scores were significantly lower for participants with dietary intakes categorized as unhealthy (<60) (0.70, 95% CI 0.69, 0.72, p<0.05) or borderline (60–75) (0.71, 95% CI 0.70, 0.73, p<0.05) compared to those scoring in the healthy range (>75) (0.75, 95% CI 0.73, 0.77) based on DST scores. HALex scores were significantly lower for underweight (0.67, 95% CI 0.63, 0.72, p<0.05), obese class II (0.68, 95% CI 0.66, 0.71, p<0.05) and class III participants (0.62 95% CI 0.57, 0.67, p<0.05) compared to those with BMI 18.5–24.9. Conclusions Poor diet quality, as assessed by the DST, is associated with lower HRQOL in adults = 74 years of age.