Biopsychosocial Frailty Measure Predicts Risk for Dementia

A study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia found biopsychosocial frailty (BF) can be a predictor for short- and longer-term dementia risk, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers analyzed data from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, which included 2,171 participants, to identify the BF construct and at least one of the two impaired items of the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Over the course of a 3.5-year follow-up, participants with BF were at an elevated risk for overall dementia — especially vascular dementia — while a seven-year follow-up yielded similar observations. "Secondary preventive strategies for cognitive impairment and different frailty phenotypes, particularly BF, may be suggested, with an individualized multidomain intervention targeting physical, nutritional, cognitive, and psychological domains," the researchers noted.