Cognitive Frailty Predicts Incident Dementia among Community-Dwelling Older People

Cognitive frailty, defined as the presence of both frailty and cognitive impairment, is a risk factor for adverse events in older adults. However, prevalence rates of cognitive frailty are low (1.1–2.5%), so primary screening is unsuitable in community settings. The aim of the study was to examine whether a new definition of cognitive frailty, which was developed for primary screening, is useful to predict incident dementia in community-dwelling older adults. A total of 4570 older adults participated in the study (2326 women; average age, 71.9 ± 5.5 years). We defined physical frailty as the presence of ≥1 of the following symptoms: slow walking speed and muscle weakness. Cognitive impairment was defined as ≥1 symptom of cognitive impairment, indicated by an age- and education-adjusted score that was ≥1.5 standard deviations below the reference threshold in word list memory, attention, executive function, and processing speed tests. Cognitive frailty was defined as comorbid physical frailty and cognitive impairment. The incidence of dementia was determined using data collected by the Japanese Health Insurance System over 36 months. The prevalence rates of physical frailty, cognitive impairment, and cognitive frailty were 17.5%, 15.3%, and 9.8%, respectively. Cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.06, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.41–3.02) and cognitive frailty (HR: 3.43, 95% CI: 2.37–4.97) were found to be significant risk factors for dementia. However, the association between dementia and physical frailty was not significant (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.76–1.69). Individuals with comorbid physical frailty and cognitive impairment could have a higher risk of dementia than healthy older adults or older adults with either physical frailty or cognitive impairment alone.