FRAILTY PHENOTYPE AND ITS IMPLICATION ON CARDIOVASCULAR RISK, DEPRESSION, LONELINESS AND NEUROCOGNITION. AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Abstract

Given the aging population and its associated pathologies, it is essential to better understand frailty syndrome to enhance quality care and daily life for the elderly.. Frailty is a biological syndrome of reduced reserve and resistance to stressors, resulting from the cumulative decline of multiple physiological systems, leading to vulnerability and poor outcomes. The current study aims to determine the influence of frailty phenotype on cardiovascular risk, depression, loneliness, neurocognitive functioning, and in community-dwelling older people. Our sample consisted of 26 participants aged above 60, each of whom underwent a protocol to assess our different variables, subjects were grouped based on their frailty phenotype. Neurocognitive functioning was measured with the Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), Depression was assessed with Geriatrice Depression Scale (GDS), loneliness with the Échelle de solitude de l'Université Laval (ESUL) and cardiovascular risk was measured with the U-Prevent algorithm. Results showed that frailty was significantly associated with memory impairments and loneliness in the overall sample. There were no significant differences in cardiovascular risk, depression and other neurocognitive functions, according to the frailty phenotype. Frailty may be a particularly important factor in memory loss and loneliness, highlighting the need for prevention and intervention strategies to decrease the risks for frailty.

Given the aging population and its associated pathologies, it is essential to better understand frailty syndrome to enhance quality care and daily life for the elderly.. Frailty is a biological syndrome of reduced reserve and resistance to stressors, resulting from the cumulative decline of multiple physiological systems, leading to vulnerability and poor outcomes. The current study aims to determine the influence of frailty phenotype on cardiovascular risk, depression, loneliness, neurocognitive functioning, and in community-dwelling older people. Our sample consisted of 26 participants aged above 60, each of whom underwent a protocol to assess our different variables, subjects were grouped based on their frailty phenotype. Neurocognitive functioning was measured with the Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), Depression was assessed with Geriatrice Depression Scale (GDS), loneliness with the Échelle de solitude de l'Université Laval (ESUL) and cardiovascular risk was measured with the U-Prevent algorithm. Results showed that frailty was significantly associated with memory impairments and loneliness in the overall sample. There were no significant differences in cardiovascular risk, depression and other neurocognitive functions, according to the frailty phenotype. Frailty may be a particularly important factor in memory loss and loneliness, highlighting the need for prevention and intervention strategies to decrease the risks for frailty. Dado o envelhecimento da população e as patologias que lhe estão associadas, é essencial compreender melhor a síndrome de fragilidade para melhorar a qualidade dos cuidados e da vida quotidiana dos idosos. A fragilidade é uma síndrome biológica de redução da reserva e resistência a factores de stress, resultante do declínio cumulativo de múltiplos sistemas fisiológicos, levando à vulnerabilidade e a maus resultados.

O presente estudo tem como objetivo determinar a influência do fenótipo de fragilidade no risco cardiovascular, depressão, solidão, funcionamento neurocognitivo e em pessoas idosas residentes na comunidade. A nossa amostra foi constituída por 26 participantes com idades superiores a 60 anos, cada um dos quais foi submetido a um protocolo para avaliar as nossas diferentes variáveis, os indivíduos foram agrupados com base no seu fenótipo de fragilidade. O funcionamento neurocognitivo foi medido com o Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), a depressão foi avaliada com a Geriatrice Depression Scale (GDS), a solidão com a Échelle de solitude de l'Université Laval (ESUL) e o risco cardiovascular foi medido com o algoritmo U-Prevent. Os resultados mostraram que a fragilidade estava significativamente associada a perturbações da memória e à solidão na amostra global. Não se registaram diferenças significativas no risco cardiovascular, na depressão e noutras funções neurocognitivas, de acordo com o fenótipo de fragilidade. A fragilidade pode ser um fator particularmente importante na perda de memória e na solidão, salientando a necessidade de estratégias de prevenção e intervenção para diminuir os riscos de fragilidade.