Cognitive Frailty among Older Adults in Rural Areas: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Abstract

Background: Cognitive frailty (CF), which is a combination of physical frailty and cognitive impairment, has been associated with functional deterioration in the elderly. However, information about the prevalence of CF and associated factors among Saudi older adults is lacking. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of CF and its associated factors in Saudi community-dwelling older adults. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Community-based. Subjects and methods: Thise study included community-dwelling elderly adults aged 60 years and over living in the Riyadh region. This study took place from August 2019 to June 2020. CF was defined as the co-existence of physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) without dementia. The association between sociodemographic and clinical factors and CF was estimated using the relative risk ratio and confidence intervals (RRR; CIs 95%) using a multivariable binary logistic regression. Main outcome measures: Fried’s frailty phenotype index; and the Mini-Mental State Examination. Sample size: A total of 421 community-dwelling older adults (63% male; mean [SD] age 70 [7.1] years). Results: The overall prevalence of CF was 6.1%. The following factors were associated with CF: age (RRR 16.3; 95% CI 4.91–54.4), being single (RRR = 3.76 95% CI 1.70–8.31), and number of chronic conditions (RRR 3.1; 95% CI 1.74–5.49). Conclusions: This study indicated the high prevalence of CF among Saudi community-dwelling older individuals compared to other populations. Screening for early diagnosis should be incorporated during examination for older adults. Limitations: The cross-sectional design limits the causality inference with associated risk factors.