Citation

Quan SA, Jeong JY, Kim DH. Epidemiol. Health 2013; 35: e2013002.

Affiliation

Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea. ; Hallym Research Institute of Clinical Epidemiology, Chuncheon, Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Korean Society of Epidemiology)

DOI

10.4178/epih/e2013002

PMID

23682335

PMCID

PMC3654091

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: 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.

METHODS: 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.

RESULTS: 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).

CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Language: en