Nutritional status and body composition by bioelectrical impedance vector analysis: A cross sectional study in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 2; p. e0171331
• Main Authors: Cova, Ilaria, Pomati, Simone, Maggiore, Laura, Forcella, Marica, Cucumo, Valentina, Ghiretti, Roberta, Grande, Giulia, Muzio, Fulvio, Mariani, Claudio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10.02.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aged; Aging; Alzheimer Disease - epidemiology; Alzheimer's disease; Analysis; Anthropometry; Bioelectricity; Biology and Life Sciences; Body Composition; Body mass; Body mass index; Body measurements; Body size; Care and treatment; Case-Control Studies; Cognitive ability; Cognitive disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction - epidemiology; Correlation analysis; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia; Diagnosis; Disease; Family medical history; Female; Females; Geriatrics; Health care; Hospitals; Humans; Hydration; Impairment; Impedance; Influence; Longitudinal studies; Male; Medical screening; Medicine and Health Sciences; Men; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurology; Nutrition assessment; Nutritional assessment; Nutritional Status; Older people; Patients; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Plethysmography, Impedance; Risk factors; Social Sciences; Soft tissues; Studies; Tissues; Variance analysis; Vector analysis; Italy
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171331

Analysis of nutritional status and body composition in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). A cross-sectional study was performed in a University-Hospital setting, recruiting 59 patients with AD, 34 subjects with MCI and 58 elderly healthy controls (HC). Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometric parameters (body mass index; calf, upper arm and waist circumferences), Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and body composition by bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA). Variables were analyzed by analysis of variance and subjects were grouped by cognitive status and gender. Sociodemographic variables did not differ among the three groups (AD, MCI and HC), except for females' age, which was therefore used as covariate in a general linear multivariate model. MNA score was significantly lower in AD patients than in HC; MCI subjects achieved intermediate scores. AD patients (both sexes) had significantly (p<0.05) higher height-normalized impedance values and lower phase angles (body cell mass) compared with HC; a higher ratio of impedance to height was found in men with MCI with respect to HC. With BIVA method, MCI subjects showed a significant displacement on the RXc graph on the right side indicating lower soft tissues (Hotelling's T2 test: men = 10.6; women = 7.9;p < 0,05) just like AD patients (Hotelling's T2 test: men = 18.2; women = 16.9; p<0,001). Bioelectrical parameters significantly differ from MCI and AD to HC; MCI showed an intermediate pattern between AD and HC. Longitudinal studies are required to investigate if BIVA could reflect early AD-changes in body composition in subjects with MCI.