Abstract

Background and objective: Increasing age has unintended physical consequences, and Body Mass Index (BMI) can be related to various aspects of health in older people. Frailty as one of these aspects, can be affected by BMI. This study looked at the risk of frailty based on obesity and overweight in older persons and a meta-analysis was also performed. Methods: The study design was systematic review and meta-analysis. The protocol used in this study was based on the PRISMA. Sources were reviewed until the end of December 2018. From different countries, sixteen articles were selected for the meta-analysis. The results of the eligible studies were pooled together and the effect size was calculated. Additional analyses were performed in the subgroups, and heterogeneity was calculated at the overall levels and groups; publication bias indices were also evaluated. Results: BMI≥25 was a risk factor for frailty (Pooled Risk Ratio (RR) = 1.43; and 95 confidence interval (CI) = 1.13–1.81. In obesity (BMI ≥30), pooled RR was 1.90 (95 CI = 1.38–2.60), and in overweight (BMI 25–<30) pooled RR was 1.20; 95 CI = 0.92–1.56. In self-reported BMI, BMI was associated with frailty risk and the RR was 1.95, and CI = 1.22–3.10; P = 0.005. In measured BMI, result was non-significant. The Begg test with insignificant result (P = 0.787), and also Egger test (P = 0.107), provided no evidence of publication bias. Conclusions: Obesity is a factor that is associated with frailty in older persons. Therefore, physical health status can be affected by obesity/overweight in older persons and therefore monitoring and controlling the health status will be of great importance. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd