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Frailty in relation to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and death in older Chinese adults: A seven-year prospective study

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

To explore the relationship of general health decline assessed by frailty and risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Design

A seven-year prospective cohort study.

Setting

Secondary analysis of data from the Beijing Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Participants

Urban and rural communitydwelling people aged 60 and older at baseline.

Measurements

Frailty was quantified using the deficit accumulation-based frailty index (FI), constructed from 40 health deficits at baseline. Dementia was diagnosed by DSM-IIIR. AD and vascular dementia (VaD) were diagnosed by NINCDS-ADRDA and NINDS-AIREN. The relationships between frailty and the risk of dementia, AD and death were evaluated through multivariable models.

Results

Of 2788 participants at baseline (1997), 171 (11.1%) reported a history of dementia. In seven years, 351 people developed dementia (13%: 223 AD and 128 other types of dementia) and 813 died (29%). After adjustment for age, sex, education, and baseline cognition, baseline frailty status significantly associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and death. For each deficit accumulated, the odds ratio of death increased by 5.7%, and the odds ratio of dementia increased by 2.9% (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Frailty was associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia over a seven years period. Frailty index might facilitate the identification of older adults at high risk of dementia for the application of the most effective, targeted prevention strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evidence-based Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No 45 Changchun street, Xicheng district, Beijing, China

    C. Wang, X. Wu, Z. Tang, S. Guan, H. Liu & Xianghua Fang

  2. Department of Neurological Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    X. Ji

  3. Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    X. Zhang

Authors
  1. C. Wang
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  2. X. Ji
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  3. X. Wu
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  4. Z. Tang
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  5. X. Zhang
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  6. S. Guan
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  7. H. Liu
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  8. Xianghua Fang
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Correspondence to Xianghua Fang.

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Wang, C., Ji, X., Wu, X. et al. Frailty in relation to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and death in older Chinese adults: A seven-year prospective study. J Nutr Health Aging 21, 648–654 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0798-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-016-0798-7

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