Home › Research › Digital health tools
Cognitive Function in Individuals With Physical Frailty but Without Dementia or Cognitive Complaints: Results From the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study
Wu YH, Liu LK, Chen WT, Lee WJ, Peng LN, Wang PN, Chen LK.. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2015-08-28
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To investigate if understated cognitive impairment existed in individuals with physical frail or earlier prefrail state but without cognitive complaints and the susceptible cognitive domains to the physical frailty. Design A cross-sectional population-based community study. Setting I-Lan County of Taiwan. Participants A total of 1839 community residents aged 50 years or older in the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study. Intervention None. Measurements Frail status assessments by the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) criteria and a series of neuropsychiatric assessments, including the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the delay free recall in the Chinese Version Verbal Learning Test (CVVLT), the Boston Naming Test (BNT), the category (animal) Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), the Taylor Complex Figure Test (CFT), the digital backward (DB), and the Clock Drawing Test. Results After excluding those with significant global cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive complaints, or functional impairment, 1686 persons aged 50 to 89 years (mean 63.4 ± 8.9) were enrolled. The prevalence of prefrail and frail individuals was 40.2% and 4.9%, respectively. The prefrail and frail persons had significantly poorer performance in the MMSE and all neuropsychological tests. Slowness and weakness were the most significant frailty components associated with cognitive impairment. The prefrail and frail individuals showed a more dose-dependent risk for 1 or more cognitive domain impairments than the robust individuals (odds ratio [OR] 1.28 in prefrail individuals versus OR 1.79 in frail individuals). The susceptible cognitive domains in the prefrail state were mainly focused on the nonmemory domains. However, the frail individuals were more likely to have risks for impairment in both memory and nonmemory domains. Conclusions Even without subjective cognitive complaints, higher risk of cognitive impairment is presented in the prefrail and frail individuals. The incremental impact of frailty on cognition and the susceptibility of nonmemory domain may provide a new view in evaluating the pathogenesis of the relationship between frailty and cognitive impairment.
Key findings
- Results After excluding those with significant global cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive complaints, or functional impairment, 1686 persons aged 50 to 89 years (mean 63.4 ± 8.9) were enrolled.
- The prefrail and frail persons had significantly poorer performance in the MMSE and all neuropsychological tests.
- Slowness and weakness were the most significant frailty components associated with cognitive impairment.
- The prefrail and frail individuals showed a more dose-dependent risk for 1 or more cognitive domain impairments than the robust individuals (odds ratio [OR] 1.28 in prefrail individuals versus OR 1.79 in frail individuals).
- Conclusions Even without subjective cognitive complaints, higher risk of cognitive impairment is presented in the prefrail and frail individuals.
Why it matters
This cross-sectional study found that physically prefrail and frail older adults without cognitive complaints performed worse on cognitive tests, with slowness and weakness most linked to impairment. It is an observational association study and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Digital health →
Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants1,686
- Effect size40.2%; 4.9%; OR 1.79
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American Medical Directors Association) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Journal of the American Medical Directors Association: journal h-index 172 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| 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 | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,686 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| 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 | 4 / 7 | Cited 92 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.1 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 9 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Liang‐Kung Chen: h-index 69 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | National Yang Ming University: institution h-index 442 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26321467) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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 7 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.
APA 7th
Wu, Y. H., Liu, L. K., Chen, W. T., Lee, W. J., Peng, L. N., Wang, P. N., et al. (2015). Cognitive Function in Individuals With Physical Frailty but Without Dementia or Cognitive Complaints: Results From the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2015.07.013
Vancouver
Wu YH, Liu LK, Chen WT, Lee WJ, Peng LN, Wang PN, et al. Cognitive Function in Individuals With Physical Frailty but Without Dementia or Cognitive Complaints: Results From the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2015. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2015.07.013. PMID: 26321467.
BibTeX
@article{wu2015-26321467,
author = {Wu, Y. H. and Liu, L. K. and Chen, W. T. and Lee, W. J. and Peng, L. N. and Wang, P. N. and Chen, L. K.},
title = {{Cognitive Function in Individuals With Physical Frailty but Without Dementia or Cognitive Complaints: Results From the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study}},
journal = {Journal of the American Medical Directors Association},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1016/j.jamda.2015.07.013},
pmid = {26321467},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2015.07.013}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Related studies in Digital health tools
Also tagged “cognitive-function”
1,118 studies in the library carry the topic tag “cognitive-function”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,118 tagged studies.