Everyday cognitive functioning and global cognitive performance are differentially associated with physical frailty and chronological age in older Chinese men and women

• Published in: Aging & mental health Vol. 22; no. 8; pp. 942 - 947
• Main Authors: Liu, Tianyin, Wong, Gloria HY, Luo, Hao, Tang, Jennifer YM, Xu, Jiaqi, Choy, Jacky CP, Lum, Terry YS
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 03.08.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adults; Age; Aging; Asian cultural groups; Chronological age; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive functioning; everyday cognitive function; Fatigue; Frailty; gender difference; Geriatric psychiatry; global cognitive function; Grip strength; Men; Mens health; Multiple regression analysis; Older people; Older women; Performance indices; physical frailty; Quality of life; Reciprocity; Regression analysis; Resistance; Self destructive behavior; Weight; Womens health; everyday cognitive function; physical frailty; gender difference; global cognitive function; Chronological age
• ISSN: 1360-7863; 1364-6915
• DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1320700

Objectives: Intact cognition is a key determinant of quality of life. Here, we investigated the relative contribution of age and physical frailty to global and everyday cognition in older adults. Methods: Data came from 1396 community-dwelling, healthy Chinese older adults aged 65 or above. We measured their global cognition using the Cantonese Chinese Montreal Cognitive Assessment, everyday cognition with the short Chinese Lawton Instrumental Activities Daily Living scale, and physical frailty using the Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illness, and Loss of Weight Scale and grip strength. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the comparative roles of age and physical frailty. Results: In the global cognition model, age explained 12% and physical frailty explained 8% of the unique variance. This pattern was only evident in women, while the reverse (physical frailty explains a greater extent of variance) was evident in men. In the everyday cognition model, physical frailty explained 18% and chronological age explained 9% of the unique variance, with similar results across both genders. Conclusion: Physical frailty is a stronger indicator than age for everyday cognition in both genders and for global cognition in men. Our findings suggest that there are alternative indexes of cognitive aging than chronological age.