Abstract
To analyze the association between cognitive impairment and physical frailty in older adults in secondary health care. This is a cross-sectional study carried out with people aged ≥ 60 years, assisted at a geriatric and gerontology outpatient clinic. For cognitive screening, the Mini Mental State Examination, the semantic verbal fluency test, and frailty assessment using the physical frailty phenotype were used. The likelihood ratio test was applied to the predictive model. 407 older adults participated in the study. Cognitive impairment was observed in 58.5% (n=238) of the sample, being higher in frail (n=66; 75%). A change in the semantic verbal fluency test was identified in 22% (n=90), with a higher prevalence in pre-frail patients (55.5%; n=226). It was identified 2.5 times more chance of a frail older person, when compared to a non-frail one, to have cognitive impairment (95% CI, +0.947 - 0.322). The chance for alteration in the semantic verbal fluency test was 5.4 times higher in frail compared to non-frail ones (95% CI, 1.68 - 0.38). A relationship was observed between cognitive impairment and physical frailty. Screening for frailty in geriatric nursing practice and the implementation of specific care is recommended.
Highlights
Developing countries have experienced an accelerating progress of population aging
Brazil stands out for its speed of population aging above developing countries, where older adults (≥ 65 years old) will correspond to a quarter of the population (25.5%) in 2060 (IBGE, 2018)(2). This transformation in the population profile puts pressure on the implementation of health care policies and services aiming at promoting active aging capable of minimizing functional decline, since several are the factors that predispose older adults to functional decline, which results in dependence and loss of autonomy
Considering the significant population aging in developing countries and the consequent demand for preventive care for older adults’ functional and cognitive decline in outpatient care, this study aims to analyze the association between cognitive impairment and physical frailty in older adults in secondary health care
Summary
In Latin America, there is an aging population structure, with an estimate that the number of older adults exceeds the number of individuals up to 15 years old in 2036(1) In this context, Brazil stands out for its speed of population aging above developing countries, where older adults (≥ 65 years old) will correspond to a quarter of the population (25.5%) in 2060 (IBGE, 2018)(2). Brazil stands out for its speed of population aging above developing countries, where older adults (≥ 65 years old) will correspond to a quarter of the population (25.5%) in 2060 (IBGE, 2018)(2) This transformation in the population profile puts pressure on the implementation of health care policies and services aiming at promoting active aging capable of minimizing functional decline, since several are the factors that predispose older adults to functional decline, which results in dependence and loss of autonomy. A decrease in performance in some cognitive functions is expected; cognitive changes can progress to mild neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia[5]
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