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Height is known as an index that reflects the environment of the fetal, childhood, and adolescent periods, which affect adult health. This study was conducted to elucidate whether height is associated with cognitive impairment in community-dwelling elders in Korea.
The study subjects were recruited among community dwelling elderly individuals aged 65 or over who participated in the 2004 Hallym Aging Study. They were invited to a general hospital and were evaluated for socioeconomic status, smoking history, and various clinical measures. Cognitive function measurement was performed using the Korean-Mini Mental State Examination. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between height and cognitive function.
After adjusting for potential covariates such as age and education, the smallest group was associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment compared with the tallest group among elderly men (odds ratio [OR], 4.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-17.36), but not among elderly women (OR,1.65; 95% CI, 0.62-4.40).
The reason for this difference according to sex may be explained by the differential effects of education on cognitive function by sex. A larger population-based prospective cohort study is needed to examine the association between height and cognitive function according to sex.
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Low grip strength is associated with decline in bone mineral density (BMD) and increased risk of spine fracture among the elderly. Smoking, a major factor determining BMD, is also known to have an indirect effect on bone loss. This study investigated whether smoking is associated with grip strength in the community-dwelling elderly in Korea.
This study was an outcome of the second of three waves of the Hallym Aging Study from January to May 2007, a population-based study of Koreans aged 45 years and upwards dwelling in Chuncheon. Its 218 subjects comprised men aged 65 years or over. They were evaluated at a general hospital for socioeconomic status, smoking history, and various clinical measures including grip strength.
Grip strength was higher in non-, ex-, and current smokers (33.7 kg, 30.6 kg, and 29.3 kg, respectively). Current smoking was found to increase the risk of decreased grip strength (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 4.58; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.31 to 16.04) compared with non-smoking, after adjustment for potential covariates including socioeconomic status. After adjustment for smoking effect, education of fewer than six years and monthly income of fewer than 500,000 Korean won increased the risk of decreased grip strength compared with education of more than six years (aOR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.08 to 7.66) and monthly income of more than 1,500,000 Korean won (aOR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.08 to 7.54).
These results showed that current smoking, low education and low income were independent risk factors for decreased grip strength among elderly men in Korea.
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