Assessment indexes of cognitive status, anxiety and depression in senior women with diff erent severity of frailty
Authors: Kodintcev A. N. , Izmozherova N. V. , Popov A. A. , Volkova L. I. 
Published: March 2024

Frailty is a key geriatric syndrome characterized by an age-associated diminution of the physiological reserve and functions of many body systems leading to increased vulnerability of the elderly people to the eff ects of endo- and exogenous factors. The combination of frailty, cognitive impairment, anxiety and depression is a signifi cant clinical predictor for an unfavorable prognosis.

Purpose. Identifi cation and study of the relationship of cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression and frailty assessment indexes in female patients over 60 years old, observed on an outpatient basis.

Material and methods. The study included 80 women over 60 years old. All participants were divided into 4 groups: non-frail (10 women), pre-frail (44 women), mildly frail (20 women), more-frail (6 women). A comprehensive clinical examination was carried out: Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), frontal assessment battery (FAB), phonetic association test, semantic association test, Beck anxiety inventory, geriatric depression scale–15 (GDS-15), questionnaire “Age is no barrier”, Frailty index (FI, Hoover et al., 2013).

Results. All women in 4 groups did not signifi cantly diff er in age. There was no statistically signifi cant diff erence in the MMSE, FAB data and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) prevalence among the groups. Lower rates of MoCA scale were associated with higher probability of frailty (odds ratio (OR) = 0.78; 95 confi dence interval (CI) CI: 0.63–0.96, p = 0.016). The cut-off  level of 26 and lower according MoCA has sensitivity 69% and specifi city 50% to detect of high frailty risk (according FI). Questionnaire “Age is no barrier” has a sensitivity of 86% and a specifi city of 53% to detect prefrailty (score 1–2) and a sensitivity of 69% and a specifi city of 87% to detect the presence of frailty (score ≥ 3) regarding FI. Combined sensitivity of MoCA (≤ 26 score) and questionnaire “Age is no barrier” (≥ 3 score) of 78%, combined specifi city of 69%. Higher rates of Beck anxiety inventory and GDS-15 were associated with frailty (OR = 1.12; 95 CI: 1.02–1.22, p = 0.0134 and OR = 1.39; 95 CI: 1.05–1.84, p = 0.0201, respectively). A higher index of the Beck anxiety inventory was also associated with mild cognitive impairment according MoCA (OR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.04–1.2, p = 0.003). Arterial hypertension was signifi cantly more common for women with FS (χ2 = 4.23, p = 0.04).

Conclusion. There was no signifi cant association between MMSE, FAB, MCI prevalence and the severity of frailty in senior women due to the insuffi  cient study power (< 80%). MoCA cut-off  ≤ 26 score is associated with higher burden of frailty. The questionnaire «Age is no barrier» is an acceptable screening method for determining the necessity of additional geriatric examination of independently living women over 60 years old. Higher rates of the Beck anxiety inventory, GDS-15, BMI, lower rates of MoCA scale and arterial hypertension are associated with high rates of FS and may be predictors for the frailty progression.