Abstract
Cognitive frailty (CF) is defined by the coexistence of physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment. Malnutrition is an underlying factor of age-related conditions including physical frailty. However, the evidence associating malnutrition and cognitive frailty is limited. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the association between malnutrition and CF in the elderly. A total of 373 participants aged 65–84 years were enrolled after excluding those who were suspected to have dementia and depression. Then, 61 CF and 45 normal participants were randomly selected to measure serum prealbumin level. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-B). Modified Fried’s criteria were used to define physical frailty. Nutritional status was evaluated by the Mini Nutritional Assessment–short form (MNA-SF), serum prealbumin, and anthropometric measurements. The prevalence of CF was 28.72%. Malnourished status by MNA-SF category (aOR = 2.81, 95%CI: 1.18–6.67) and MNA-SF score (aOR = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.74–0.94) were independently associated with CF. However, there was no correlation between CF and malnutrition assessed by serum prealbumin level and anthropometric measurements. Other independent risk factors of CF were advanced age (aOR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.02–1.11) and educational level below high school (aOR = 6.77, 95%CI: 1.99–23.01). Malnutrition was associated with CF among Thai elderly. High-risk groups who are old and poorly educated should receive early screening and nutritional interventions.
Highlights
The world is facing the challenge of an increase in the aging population
The association of malnutrition which was evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment–short form (MNA-SF) and cognitive frailty was demonstrated
The following provides an explanation for the Montreal Cognitive AssessmentBasic (MoCA-B) used to screen for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in our study
Summary
To identify the eligible participants, the subdistrict primary care unit officers retrieved and examined the aging health data survey of community-dwelling older people aged 65–84 years with independent and partially dependent status in our target area. There were 934 people who were eligible to participate in this study. Healthy promoting hospital database was reviewed to exclude those who have been diagnosed with dementia, depression, end-stage kidney disease, hepatitis, cirrhosis, autoimmune diseases, cancer, acute trauma, acute illnesses, and those who took steroids. At this stage, 494 older adults were selected by cluster sampling from ten villages.
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