COVID-19 전 · 중 · 후 시기 노인의 소득 분위에 따른 BMI의 대사증후군 예측력 분석

초록

PURPOSE This study aimed to inform elderly health management and crisis policies through an evaluation of the predictive power of body mass index (BMI) for metabolic syndrome in older adults pre-, during, and post-COVID-19. We also examined the correlations between metabolic syndrome variables and BMI by income level. METHODS Data from 6,242 older adults (aged 65–80) were drawn from the 2019–2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were divided into four income quartiles, and data collection times were grouped as pre-, during, and post-pandemic. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationships between metabolic syndrome factors and BMI by income and period. The predictive power of BMI for metabolic syndrome was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. RESULTS We found abdominal obesity and low HDL to consistently correlate with BMI across all groups. In the lowest income group, hypertension was significantly associated with BMI during and after the pandemic. The BMI area under the curve (AUC) peaked during the pandemic in the low-income group, but showed stable predictive power in the highest income group. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic mediated the relationship between BMI and metabolic syndrome among older adults differently according to income level. In low income older adults, the predictive power of BMI for metabolic syndrome increased during the pandemic. In high-income groups, it remained stable across all periods. Systematic health management programs and policy interventions targeting low income older adults are required to reduce health disparities during public health crises.

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