Frailty and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Southeast Asians: A Cross-Sectional Study on Brain Atrophy Patterns and Cognitive Profiles

Background Poorer cognition and reduced brain volumes are found to be associated with frailty. We examine the influence of frailty on cognitive and neuroimaging measures in a Southeast Asian cohort of MCI. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, 356 MCI participants completed neuropsychological assessments. We performed a multivariable linear regression comparing pre-frail/frail and non-frail groups on cognitive, behavioural and brain volumes controlling for age and total intracranial volume and a partial correlation of frailty and walking speed on brain volumes. Results Mean age of our cohort was 65.26 ± 9.10, mean education years was 13.36 ± 4.12 and 54.21% were women. The pre-frail/frail group had worse cognition, mild behavioural impairment, mood, physical activity and quality of life ( p < 0.05). Faster walking speed was associated with greater hippocampal volume ( r = 0.139, p = 0.048). Conclusions Frailty is associated with worse cognition and lifestyle outcomes. Walking speed could be a potential biomarker of dementia.