Office-based simple frailty score and central blood pressure predict mild cognitive impairment in an apparently healthy Japanese population: J-SHIPP study

Frailty is associated with cognitive impairment and can be used to identify people at high risk for dementia. We developed a simple frailty (SF) score using a combination of low hand grip strength (<32.5 kg in men, <19.5 kg in women), and short one-leg standing time (<20 seconds). These can be easily measured in the clinician’s office when seeing patients. We investigated the possible association between SF score and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a cross-sectional study with 838 independent middle-aged to elderly participants (319 men, mean age 65.1years). In total, 118 participants were diagnosed with MCI. A SF score of 2 was significantly associated with the presence of MCI (odds ratio 4.6, 95% confidence interval: 1.9–6.9, p = 0.0001) even after adjustment for age and sex. Stepwise regression analyses showed that a SF score of 2 was associated with the presence of MCI, independently of central pulse pressure and silent cerebral infarcts. These findings indicate that the SF score is a useful frailty parameter to predict MCI in an apparently independent population.