Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study is a longitudinal cohort study that started just over 25 years ago. This ground-breaking study tested specific hypotheses about the importance of weight, body composition, and weight-related health conditions for incident functional limitation in older adults. METHODS: Narrative review with analysis of ancillary studies, career awards, publications, and citations. RESULTS: Key findings of the study demonstrated the importance of body composition as a whole, both fat and lean mass, in the disablement pathway. The quality of the muscle in terms of its strength and its composition was found to be a critical feature in defining sarcopenia. Dietary patterns and especially protein intake, social factors, and cognition were found to be critical elements for functional limitation and disability. The study is highly cited and its assessments have been widely adopted in both observational studies and clinical trials. Its impact continues as a platform for collaboration and career development. CONCLUSIONS: The Health ABC provides a knowledge base for the prevention of disability and promotion of mobility in older adults.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2024-2034 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| Early online date | 11 Jul 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].
Funding
This research was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Contracts N01-AG-6-2101; N01-AG-6-2103; N01-AG-6-2106. Additional support was provided through the NIA Intramural Research Program via collaborative agreements with the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease and Skin Diseases, the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive Disorders and Kidney Disease, the National Center for Mental health Disorders, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Support from ancillary studies and career development awards are shown in Table 1 and Supplementary Table 1. A.B.N is supported by P30 AG024827 and S.B.K. by P30 AG021332. We would like to acknowledge Stephen Gabrielson from the University of Pittsburgh, Health Sciences Library System (RRID:SCR_011975) http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/ for creating the citation metrics report and impact visualizations.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases | |
| National Center for Mental health Disorders | |
| National Institute of Diabetes | |
| National Institute on Aging | N01-AG-6-2106, N01-AG-6-2101, N01-AG-6-2103 |
| University of Pittsburgh | SCR_011975 |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | P30 AG021332, P30 AG024827 |
Keywords
- Aging
- Body composition
- Epidemiology
- Sarcopenia