Home › Research › Prevention and risk
Associations between physical frailty and dementia incidence: a prospective study from UK Biobank
Petermann-Rocha F, Lyall DM, Gray SR, Esteban-Cornejo I, Quinn TJ, Ho FK, Pell JP, Celis-Morales C.. The lancet. Healthy longevity, 2020-11-02
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Dementia is associated with a high burden of dependency and disability. Physical frailty (hereafter referred to as frailty) is a multisystem dysregulation that has been identified as a risk factor for dementia. The aim of this study was to examine the association of frailty and its individual components with all-cause dementia incidence in a cohort of UK adults. Methods Participants in UK Biobank with data available for dementia incidence and without any form of dementia at baseline were included in this prospective study. Frailty was defined using a modified version of the frailty phenotype based on five individual components (weight loss, tiredness, physical activity, gait speed, and grip strength), with participants classified as pre-frail if they fulfilled one or two criteria or frail if they fulfilled three or more. Associations between frailty and dementia incidence were investigated using Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors, and morbidity count. The population attributable fraction was also estimated. Findings Of 502 535 participants in UK Biobank, 143 215 met the inclusion criteria and were included in our analyses. 68 500 (47·8%) of the participants were pre-frail and 5565 (3·9%) were frail. During a median follow-up period of 5·4 years, 726 individuals developed dementia. Compared with non-frail individuals, the risk of dementia incidence was increased for individuals with pre-frailty (hazard ratio 1·21 [95% CI 1·04-1·42]) and frailty (1·98 [1·47-2·67]) in the fully adjusted model. Of the five components used to define frailty, weight loss (1·31 [1·09-1·58]), tiredness (1·48 [1·18-1·86]), low grip strength (1·38 [1·17-1·63]), and slow gait speed (1·55 [1·22-1·96]) were independently associated with incident dementia. Based on population attributable fraction analyses, in the study sample, pre-frailty and frailty accounted for 9·9% and 8·6% of dementia cases, respectively. Interpretation Individuals with pre-frailty and frailty were at a higher risk of dementia incidence even after adjusting for a wide range of confounding factors. Early detection and interventions for frailty could translate into prevention or delayed onset of dementia. Funding None.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Petermann-Rocha, F., Lyall, D. M., Gray, SR., Esteban-Cornejo, I., Quinn, T. J., Ho, F. K., et al. (2020). Associations between physical frailty and dementia incidence: a prospective study from UK Biobank. The lancet. Healthy longevity. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2666-7568(20)30007-6
Vancouver
Petermann-Rocha F, Lyall DM, Gray SR, Esteban-Cornejo I, Quinn TJ, Ho FK, et al. Associations between physical frailty and dementia incidence: a prospective study from UK Biobank. The lancet. Healthy longevity. 2020. doi:10.1016/s2666-7568(20)30007-6. PMID: 36094146.
BibTeX
@article{petermannrocha2020-36094146,
author = {Petermann-Rocha, F. and Lyall, D. M. and Gray, SR. and Esteban-Cornejo, I. and Quinn, T. J. and Ho, F. K. and Pell, J. P. and Celis-Morales, C.},
title = {{Associations between physical frailty and dementia incidence: a prospective study from UK Biobank}},
journal = {The lancet. Healthy longevity},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1016/s2666-7568(20)30007-6},
pmid = {36094146},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s2666-7568(20)30007-6}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Background Dementia is associated with a high burden of dependency and disability.
- Compared with non-frail individuals, the risk of dementia incidence was increased for individuals with pre-frailty (hazard ratio 1·21 [95% CI 1·04-1·42]) and frailty (1·98 [1·47-2·67]) in the fully adjusted model.
- Of the five components used to define frailty, weight loss (1·31 [1·09-1·58]), tiredness (1·48 [1·18-1·86]), low grip strength (1·38 [1·17-1·63]), and slow gait speed (1·55 [1·22-1·96]) were independently associated with incident dementia.
- Interpretation Individuals with pre-frailty and frailty were at a higher risk of dementia incidence even after adjusting for a wide range of confounding factors.
Why it matters
In this UK Biobank cohort, pre-frailty and frailty were associated with higher risk of developing all-cause dementia, and weight loss, tiredness, low grip strength and slow gait speed were independent contributors. Because it is an observational study, it cannot prove that reducing frailty prevents dementia.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Prevention →
Study details
- Participants535
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The lancet. Healthy longevity) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | The Lancet Healthy Longevity: journal h-index 78 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 535 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 180 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 22.5 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 10 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 108 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Carlos A. Celis-Morales: h-index 71 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Glasgow: institution h-index 1,600 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 36094146) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/s2666-7568(20)30007-6
- PubMed: 36094146
- Original source →
- Free full text: The Lancet Healthy Longevity →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
10 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Prevention and risk
Also tagged “biobank”
1,084 studies in the library carry the topic tag “biobank”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,084 tagged studies.