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Cognitive abilities in later life and the onset of physical frailty: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Cognitive abilities in later life and the onset of physical frailty: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936
Cognitive abilities in later life and the onset of physical frailty: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936
OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether poorer cognitive ability is a risk factor for the development of physical frailty, and whether this risk varies by cognitive domain.
DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal study with six-year follow-up.
SETTING: Edinburgh, Scotland.
PARTICIPANTS: 594 members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.
MEASUREMENTS: Frailty was assessed at ages 70 and 76 using the Fried criteria. Cognitive functions were assessed at ages 70, 73, and 76. Factor score estimates were derived for baseline level of and change in four cognitive domains: visuospatial ability, memory, processing speed, and crystallized cognitive ability.
RESULTS: Higher baseline levels of processing speed, memory, visuospatial ability and crystallized ability derived from ages 70, 73 and 76, and less decline in speed, memory and crystallized ability were associated with a reduced risk of becoming physically frail by age 76. When all cognitive domains were modelled together, processing speed was only domain associated with frailty risk: for a standard deviation increment in initial level of processing speed, the relative risk for frailty (RR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) was 0.53 (0.33, 0.85), after adjustment for age, sex, baseline frailty status, social class, depressive symptoms, number of chronic physical diseases, levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and other cognitive factor score estimates; for a SD increment in processing speed change (i.e. less decline) the RR (95% CI) was 0.26 (0.16, 0.42). When we conducted additional analyses using a single test of processing speed that did not require fast motor responses—Inspection Time—results were similar.
CONCLUSIONS: The speed with which older people process information and the rate at which this declines over time may be an important indicator of the risk of physical frailty.
0002-8614
1-35
Gale, C.R.
5bb2abb3-7b53-42d6-8aa7-817e193140c8
Ritchie, S.R.
e5783f87-9dbf-4baa-a220-946bc98f7cd4
Cooper, C.
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Starr, J.M.
efba1461-fa5a-4669-9801-d6530f48d01c
Deary, I.J.
e3403cfe-eb5b-4941-903d-87ef0db89c60
Gale, C.R.
5bb2abb3-7b53-42d6-8aa7-817e193140c8
Ritchie, S.R.
e5783f87-9dbf-4baa-a220-946bc98f7cd4
Cooper, C.
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Starr, J.M.
efba1461-fa5a-4669-9801-d6530f48d01c
Deary, I.J.
e3403cfe-eb5b-4941-903d-87ef0db89c60

Gale, C.R., Ritchie, S.R., Cooper, C., Starr, J.M. and Deary, I.J. (2016) Cognitive abilities in later life and the onset of physical frailty: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1-35. (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether poorer cognitive ability is a risk factor for the development of physical frailty, and whether this risk varies by cognitive domain.
DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal study with six-year follow-up.
SETTING: Edinburgh, Scotland.
PARTICIPANTS: 594 members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.
MEASUREMENTS: Frailty was assessed at ages 70 and 76 using the Fried criteria. Cognitive functions were assessed at ages 70, 73, and 76. Factor score estimates were derived for baseline level of and change in four cognitive domains: visuospatial ability, memory, processing speed, and crystallized cognitive ability.
RESULTS: Higher baseline levels of processing speed, memory, visuospatial ability and crystallized ability derived from ages 70, 73 and 76, and less decline in speed, memory and crystallized ability were associated with a reduced risk of becoming physically frail by age 76. When all cognitive domains were modelled together, processing speed was only domain associated with frailty risk: for a standard deviation increment in initial level of processing speed, the relative risk for frailty (RR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) was 0.53 (0.33, 0.85), after adjustment for age, sex, baseline frailty status, social class, depressive symptoms, number of chronic physical diseases, levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and other cognitive factor score estimates; for a SD increment in processing speed change (i.e. less decline) the RR (95% CI) was 0.26 (0.16, 0.42). When we conducted additional analyses using a single test of processing speed that did not require fast motor responses—Inspection Time—results were similar.
CONCLUSIONS: The speed with which older people process information and the rate at which this declines over time may be an important indicator of the risk of physical frailty.

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Accepted/In Press date: 23 November 2016
Organisations: Faculty of Medicine

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 403431
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/403431
ISSN: 0002-8614
PURE UUID: 6e64bba3-9541-4b91-b34b-4a5cb4471f20
ORCID for C.R. Gale: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3361-8638
ORCID for C. Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709

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Date deposited: 01 Dec 2016 09:33
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:56

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Contributors

Author: C.R. Gale ORCID iD
Author: S.R. Ritchie
Author: C. Cooper ORCID iD
Author: J.M. Starr
Author: I.J. Deary

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