| Keywords |
Elderly women ; Physical frailty ; Cognitive function ; Depression |
| Abstract |
This study examined the association of physical frailty with cognitive function and depression in elderly women. This was a cross sectional study involving 261 elderly women with mean age of 74.0±6.9 years. Body composition parameters was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Korean version of mini-mental state examination of dementia screening (MMSE-DS) and the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale (CES-D) were used to assess cognitive function and depression, respectively. Subjects were classified as robust, pre-frailty, and frailty based on the Fried criteria for frailty weight loss, exhaustion, low hand-grip strength, low gait speed, and physical inactivity. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of frailty status for having mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and depression. Subgroup analyses showed significant linear decrease in MMSE-DS (P<.001) and significant linear increases in CES-D (P<.001) across incremental frailty status. Compared to the robust group (OR=1), the frailty group had significantly higher ORs of having MCI (OR=3.430, 95% CI=1.166-10.090, P=.025) and depression (OR=5.939, 95% CI=1.254-28.177, P=.025). The current findings suggest that a lifestyle intervention consisting of a physical activity and physical fitness should be promoted as a preventive means against cognitive impairment and depression symptoms associated with aging physical frailty |