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Cognitive Function in the Prefrailty and Frailty Syndrome
Author(s) -
Robertson Deirdre A.,
Savva George M.,
Coen Robert F.,
Kenny RoseAnne
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.13111
Subject(s) - medicine , cognition , weakness , gerontology , recall , population , physical medicine and rehabilitation , physical therapy , psychiatry , psychology , surgery , environmental health , cognitive psychology
Objectives To explore the relationship between cognitive function and frailty. Design A cross‐sectional study using data from W ave 1 of The I rish L ongitudinal S tudy on A geing, a population representative study of adults aged 50 and older in the R epublic of I reland. Setting Community‐dwelling adults completed a home‐ or health center–based nurse‐led assessment. Participants Individuals aged 50 and older without a history of stroke, P arkinson's disease, or severe cognitive impairment ( M ini‐ M ental S tate E xamination ( MMSE ) score <18) and not taking antidepressants (N = 4,649). Measurements A cognitive battery including MMSE , M ontreal C ognitive A ssessment, C olor T rails T est, C ambridge M ental D isorders of the E lderly E xamination memory and executive function subtests, 10‐word recall, S ustained A ttention to R esponse T ask, and choice reaction time was used to generate composite scores of cognitive domains. Frailty was assessed according to weakness, slowness, exhaustion, low physical activity, and weight loss. Results After full adjustment, cognitive function across all domains except self‐rated memory and processing speed was significantly worse in prefrail and frail participants ( P < .05) than in those who were robust. Weakness and walking speed were most consistently linked to poorer cognition, whereas low activity and weight loss were not independently associated with any cognitive domain. Exhaustion was associated with global cognition ( B = −0.18 ± 0.06), with some evidence of links to objectively measured and self‐rated memory. Conclusion Cognitive function is worse across multiple cognitive domains in prefrail and frail individuals aged 50 and older than in those who are robust, although the absolute differences are small after adjusting for confounding factors.