Disentangling the relationship between biological age and frailty in community-dwelling older Mexican adults.

Background: Older adults have highly heterogeneous aging rates.

Objective: To explore the association of biological age (BA) and accelerated aging with frailty in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: We assessed 735 community-dwelling older adults from the Coyocan Cohort. BA was measured using AnthropoAge, accelerated aging with AnthropoAgeAccel, and frailty using Fried's phenotype and the frailty index. We explored the association of BA and accelerated aging (AnthropoAgeAccel ≥ 0) with frailty at baseline and characterized the body composition and physical function phenotype of accelerated aging in non-frail/frail participants. We also explored accelerated aging as a risk factor for frailty progression after 3-years of follow-up.

Results: Older adults with accelerated aging have higher frailty prevalence and indices, lower handgrip strength and gait speed. AnthropoAgeAccel was associated with higher frailty indices (β = 0.0053, 95%CI 0.0027-0.0079), and increased odds of frailty at baseline (OR 1.16, 95%CI 1.09-1.25). We observed sex-based differences in body composition and physical function linked to accelerated aging in non-frail participants; however, these differences were absent in pre-frail/frail participants. Accelerated aging at baseline was associated with higher risk of frailty progression over time (OR 1.74, 95%CI 1.11-2.75).

Conclusions: Despite being intertwined, biological accelerated aging is largely independent of frailty in community-dwelling older adults.