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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 16 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1458542
This article is part of the Research Topic The Open Challenges of Cognitive Frailty: Risk Factors, Neuropsychological Profiles and Psychometric Assessment for Healthy Aging View all 3 articles

Association between frailty index and cognitive dysfunction in older adults: insights from the 2011-2014 NHANES Data

Provisionally accepted
Jianlong Zhou Jianlong Zhou 1,2Yadi LI Yadi LI 1,2Lv Zhu Lv Zhu 3Rensong Yue Rensong Yue 1,2*
  • 1 Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 3 West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    As the population ages, the occurrence of cognitive decline and dementia is continuously increasing. Frailty is a prevalent problem among older adults. Epidemiologic studies have shown a comorbidity between frailty and cognitive impairment. However, their relationship remains unclear. The frailty index is an important indicator for measuring frailty. This study aims to investigate the relationship between frailty index and cognitive dysfunction in older adults aged 60 years and older in the United States from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).Methods: Community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or older from 2011-2014 were extracted from the NHANES database. The frailty index was calculated using the formula: frailty index = total number of deficits present/total number of deficits measured. The Animal Fluency (AF), the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Delayed Recall (CERAD-DR), and Word Learning (CERAD-WL) were used to evaluate cognitive dysfunction. Firstly, weighted logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between frailty index and cognitive dysfunction. Secondly, the influence of covariates on the frailty index was evaluated by subgroup analysis and interaction. Finally, the non-linear relationship is discussed by using the restricted cubic spline regression model.Our study included a total of 2,574 patients, weighted logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for all covariates, showed that the frailty index was associated with every test score. The interaction showed that covariates had no significant effect on this association in AF. The association between the frailty index and AF in the restricted cubic spline regression model is non-linear. As the frailty index increased, the risk of AF reduction increased, suggesting a higher risk of cognitive dysfunction.In general, a high frailty index appears to be associated with an increased risk of cognitive dysfunction in the elderly. Consequently, protecting against cognitive decline necessitates making geriatric frailty prevention and treatment top priorities.

    Keywords: cognitive dysfunction, Frailty Index, NHANES, older adults, Restricted cubic spline regression model

    Received: 02 Jul 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhou, LI, Zhu and Yue. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rensong Yue, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

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