Longitudinal Relationship Between Frailty and Cognitive Impairment in Chinese Older Adults: A Prospective Study

Abstract

We aimed to examine the longitudinal association between frailty and cognitive impairment in the older Chinese population. This prospective cohort study used data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study 2011 wave. We calculated the follow-up duration as 3 years from the baseline year. Frailty was measured using the frailty index, and cognitive function was calculated by Mini-Mental State Examination Scale. Participants who were non-frailty and those with normal cognitive function were included in 2011 and followed up in 2014, respectively. Frailty was an independent risk factor for early-onset cognitive impairment. Age, hearing impairment, and a decreased ability to perform daily activities were the main risk factors for cognitive impairment, while affluent economic status was a protective factor. Cognitive impairment was not found to be an independent risk factor for frailty. We concluded that the frailty index is a significant predictor of cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults.

Understanding exogenous factors and biological mechanisms for cognitive frailty: a multidisciplinary scoping review

“…The studies above identified how social, psychological, cognitive and environmental factors may be linked to underlying biological factors in CF. One study examined the direction of the trajectory in a longitudinal dataset (Zhao et al, 2022), determining that the accumulation of deficits associated with PF is what is driving the co-occurrence of PF and CI suggesting the predictive relationship only works in one direction. We conclude this section by reviewing evidence for biological processes underpinning CF, beyond general ageing.…”