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56/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 56 out of 100. Caregiving

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Objective We examined the extent to which physical frailty in older persons is associated with common age-related brain pathology, including cerebral infarcts, Lewy body pathology, and Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology. Methods We studied brain autopsies from 165 deceased participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal clinical-pathologic study of aging. Physical frailty, based on four components, including grip strength, time to walk 8 feet, body composition, and fatigue, was assessed at annual clinical evaluations. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation of postmortem neuropathologic findings to frailty proximate to death, controlling for age, sex, and education. Results The mean age at death was 88.1 years (SD = 5.7 years). The level of AD pathology was associated with frailty proximate to death ( = 0.252, SE = 0.077, p = 0.001), accounting for 4% of the variance of physical frailty. Neither cerebral infarcts ( = -0.121, SE = 0.115, p = 0.294) nor Lewy body disease pathology ( = 0.07, SE = 0.156, p = 0.678) was associated with frailty. These associations were unchanged after controlling for the time interval from last clinical evaluation to autopsy. The association of AD pathology with frailty did not differ by the presence of dementia, and this association was unchanged even after considering potential confounders, including physical activity; parkinsonian signs; pulmonary function; or history of chronic diseases, including vascular risk factors, vascular disease burden, falls, joint pain, or use of antipsychotic or antihypertensive medications. Conclusion Physical frailty in old age is associated with Alzheimer disease pathology in older persons with and without dementia.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Buchman, A. S., Schneider, J. A., Leurgans, S., & Bennett, D. A. (2008). Physical frailty in older persons is associated with Alzheimer disease pathology. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000324864.81179.6a

Vancouver

Buchman AS, Schneider JA, Leurgans S, Bennett DA. Physical frailty in older persons is associated with Alzheimer disease pathology. Neurology. 2008. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000324864.81179.6a. PMID: 18695161.

BibTeX

@article{buchman2008-18695161,
  author  = {Buchman, A. S. and Schneider, J. A. and Leurgans, S. and Bennett, D. A.},
  title   = {{Physical frailty in older persons is associated with Alzheimer disease pathology}},
  journal = {Neurology},
  year    = {2008},
  doi     = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000324864.81179.6a},
  pmid    = {18695161},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000324864.81179.6a}
}

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Key findings

Objective We examined the extent to which physical frailty in older persons is associated with common age-related brain pathology, including cerebral infarcts, Lewy body pathology, and Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology.
Results The mean age at death was 88.1 years (SD = 5.7 years).
The level of AD pathology was associated with frailty proximate to death ( = 0.252, SE = 0.077, p = 0.001), accounting for 4% of the variance of physical frailty.
Neither cerebral infarcts ( = -0.121, SE = 0.115, p = 0.294) nor Lewy body disease pathology ( = 0.07, SE = 0.156, p = 0.678) was associated with frailty.
Conclusion Physical frailty in old age is associated with Alzheimer disease pathology in older persons with and without dementia.

Why it matters

In 165 autopsied participants, Alzheimer disease pathology was associated with physical frailty near death, though it accounted for only 4% of the variance, while cerebral infarcts and Lewy bodies were not. This links Alzheimer pathology to frailty but does not show that treating the pathology would improve frailty.

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Study details

Study designlongitudinal study
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 56/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	7 / 12	A longitudinal study following the same people over 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	2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 260 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	13.0 citations a year over 20 year(s) since 2008
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 4.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 13 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 39 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author David Alan Bennett: h-index 197 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Rush University Medical Center: institution h-index 670 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	0 / 3	OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete)
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18695161)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	56 / 100	—

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