Cognitive frailty predicting all-cause mortality among community-living older adults in Taiwan: A 4-year nationwide population-based cohort study

Background Cognitive frailty (CF) featured as frailty plus cognitive impairment was deemed to be a novel target for dementia and disable prevention. The study was intended to investigate the epidemiology of CF and the association between CF and all-cause mortality. Methods The national representative cohort study was comprised of 1,103 community-living middle-aged and older adults. CF was defined as the co-existence of dynapenia (weakness and/or slowness) and cognitive impairment (1.5 standard deviations below the age-, sex- and education-matched norms in cognitive tests) without known neurodegenerative diseases. Dynapenia was defined by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia and cognitive function was assessed by the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. Results The prevalence of CF was 8.6% in this study. Subjects with CF were older, more likely to be women, having less regular exercise, fewer educational years, more depressive symptoms and greater multimorbidity. Compared to robust individuals, CF was significantly associated with all-cause mortality (HR: 3.1, 95% CI:1.3–7.7, p = 0.012). Conclusion Dynapenia and cognitive impairment synergistically contribute to the mortality risk for the participants in this study. Further study is needed to explore the underlying pathophysiology and the reversibility of CF.