Background: Frailty is characterized by increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. The prevalence of frailty across neurodegenerative disorders (NDD) is largely unknown. Symptoms of frailty and NDD overlap, calling into question a tautology in some frailty instruments. Our objectives were 1) to construct a Frailty Index (FI) independent of NDD symptoms, and 2) to estimate frailty prevalence in a broad NDD cohort using both the Frailty Phenotype (FP) and the constructed FI as measures.
Methods: Data from the Canadian COMPASS-ND cohort study were assessed for applicability to FI construction. Frailty status according to FI and FP criteria were ascertained for each participant.
Results: 81 items were selected for the FI. In the cohort (150 participants; 46% women; mean age 73.6±7.0; 10 NDD subgroups), frailty was identified in 11% and 14% of participants according to the FI and FP, respectively. The difference between estimates was not significant. The FP classified most participants (84%) as pre-frail.
Conclusion: The presence of frailty elements, regardless of whether they are part of NDD, is likely to influence health status. Given the FP identified a large proportion of the cohort as pre-frail or frail, it is likely worthwhile to identify frailty in the context of NDD.
Keywords: dementia; frailty; frailty index; frailty phenotype; neurodegeneration.
© 2019 Author(s). Published by the Canadian Geriatrics Society.