Association between nutritional status determined using body mass index and cognitive impairment in elderly adults attending at Centro Medico Naval del Peru, 2010-2015

To evaluate the relationship between nutritional status and cognitive impairment in elderly adults attending the Cirujano Mayor Santiago Tavara Peruvian Navy Medical Center between 2010 and 2015. Materials and methods: This is an observational, analytical, retrospective, and cross-sectional study. We included 1594 elderly patients who met the selection criteria. The evaluation of cognitive impairment was performed using the following instruments: MoCA, MMSE, and the Pfeiffer questionnaire. STATA statistical software was used, and linear regression models were also used for analyzing cognitive impairment according to the body mass index. Results: Subjects average age was 78.4 ± 8.5 years. There were more males (59%) than females (41%). About 25% were underweight. Both MoCA and MMSE mean scores were significantly lower in those participants with low weight, while significantly higher median values were obtained in the Pfeiffer test in low weight subjects (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between low weight and cognitive impairment according to MoCA, MMSE, and Pfeiffer instruments in elderly adults included in this study.