Does Frailty Predict Cognitive and Functional Deficits After Nine Years?

Objectives

To identify the variables at baseline, including physical frailty, that might predict cognitive and functional deficits in a 9-year follow-up.

Methods

This investigation included participants from the FIBRA study in Campinas city and Ermelino Matarazzo, subdistrict of São Paulo city, with complete data collected at baseline and follow-up for the variables sex, age, education, frailty phenotype, number of chronic diseases, and tobacco and alcohol use. Of the initial 1284 participants at baseline, 98 that exhibited cognitive impairment were excluded. At follow-up, 451 participants were located and reinterviewed and 85 scored below the cut-off on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), of which 45 also presented functional deficit.

Results

The follow-up subsample comprised predominantly participants that were female (68.1%), aged 65–74 years (71.6%), and had low education (0–4 years of education, 75.6%). At baseline, 35.5% were non-frail, 57.0% pre-frail and 7.5% frail, whereas at follow-up, 29.4% were non-frail, 62.3% pre-frail and 8.3% frail. Logistic regression showed that age and education but not frailty at baseline were associated with cognitive and functional deficits at follow-up.

Conclusions

Higher age and lower education at baseline were predictors of cognitive and functional deficits after 9 years, whereas frailty was not. Further longitudinal studies should be conducted to elucidate the factors predicting cognitive and functional decline in low-and middle-income countries.