Reversible Cognitive Frailty, Dementia, and All-Cause Mortality. The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Objectives Cognitive frailty, a condition describing the simultaneous presence of physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment, has been recently defined by an international consensus group. We estimated the predictive role of a “reversible” cognitive frailty model on incident dementia, its subtypes, and all-cause mortality in nondemented older individuals. We verified if vascular risk factors or depressive symptoms could modify this predictive role. Design Longitudinal population-based study with 3.5- and 7-year of median follow-up. Setting Eight Italian municipalities included in the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Participants In 2150 older individuals from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, we operationalized reversible cognitive frailty with the presence of physical frailty and pre-mild cognitive impairment subjective cognitive decline, diagnosed with a self-report measure based on item 14 of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Measurements Incidence of dementia, its subtypes, and all-cause mortality. Results Over a 3.5-year follow-up, participants with reversible cognitive frailty showed an increased risk of overall dementia [hazard ratio (HR) 2.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–5.18], particularly vascular dementia (VaD), and all-cause mortality (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.07–2.83). Over a 7-year follow-up, participants with reversible cognitive frailty showed an increased risk of overall dementia (HR 2.12, 95% CI 1.12–4.03), particularly VaD, and all-cause mortality (HR 1.39, 95% CI 1.03–2.00). Vascular risk factors and depressive symptoms did not have any effect modifier on the relationship between reversible cognitive frailty and incident dementia and all-cause mortality. Conclusions A model of reversible cognitive frailty was a short- and long-term predictor of all-cause mortality and overall dementia, particularly VaD. The absence of vascular risk factors and depressive symptoms did not modify the predictive role of reversible cognitive frailty on these outcomes.