Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 168 participants who did not develop cognitive frailty (CF),192 who developed reversible CF (RCF), and 57 who developed potentially RCF (PRCF) over the 2-year study period

Age (years)

71.3 ± 5.5

70.1 ± 4.4

71.6 ± 5.8

74.1 ± 6.3

 < 0.001

Sex

 Male

182 (43.6)

83 (49.4)

81 (42.2)

18 (31.6)

0.055

 Female

235 (56.4)

85 (50.6)

111 (57.8)

39 (68.4)

Body-mass index (kg/m²)

 Underweight (< 18.5)

23 (5.5)

7 (5.5)

14 (7.3)

2 (3.5)

0.835

 Normal weight (18.5 ~ 22.9)

131 (31.4)

54 (32.1)

61 (31.8)

16 (28.1)

 Overweight (23 ~ 24.9)

118 (28.3)

47 (39.8)

53 (37.6)

18 (31.6)

 Obese (≥ 25)

145 (34.8)

60 (35.7)

64 (33.3)

21 (36.8)

Educational level

 College or above

228 (54.7)

94 (56.0)

112 (58.3)

22 (38.6)

0.001

 Senior and junior high

133 (31.9)

57 (33.9)

59 (30.7)

17 (29.8)

 Elementary or lower

56 (13.4)

17 (10.1)

21 (10.9)

18 (31.6)

Income per month (NT$)

 Low (< 49.999)

194 (46.5)

69 (41.1)

91 (47.4)

34 (59.6)

0.067

 Middle (50.000 ~ 99.999)

158 (37.9)

70 (41.7)

68 (35.4)

20 (35.1)

 High (≥ 100.000)

65 (15.6)

29 (17.3)

33 (17.2)

3 (5.3)

Regular exercise (≥ 3 times per week)

 No

64 (15.3)

24 (14.3)

26 (13.5)

14 (24.6)

0.113

 Yes

353 (84.7)

144 (85.7)

166 (86.5)

43 (75.4)

Current smoking

 No

401 (96.2)

161 (95.8)

184 (95.8)

56 (98.2)

0.678

 Yes

16 (3.8)

7 (4.2)

8 (4.2)

1 (1.8)

Alcohol consumption

 No

358 (85.9)

141 (83.9)

164 (85.4)

53 (93.0)

0.231

 Yes

59 (14.1)

27 (16.1)

28 (14.6)

4 (7.0)

Number of comorbidities

 0 or 1

164 (39.3)

74 (44.0)

77 (40.1)

13 (22.8)

0.015

 2 or 3

182 (43.6)

74 (44.0)

80 (41.7)

28 (49.1)

  ≥ 4

71 (17.0)

20 (11.9)

35 (18.2)

16 (28.1)

Number of medications

 0 or 1

99 (23.7)

40 (23.8)

47 (24.5)

12 (21.1)

0.145

 2 or 3

212 (50.8)

95 (56.5)

92 (47.9)

25 (43.9)

  ≥ 4

106 (25.4)

33 (19.6)

53 (27.6)

20 (35.1)

Tinetti balance (0 ~ 24)

23.3 ± 1.4

23.4 ± 1.3

23.4 ± 1.0

22.6 ± 2.2

 < 0.015

ABC scale (0 ~ 100)

86.9 ± 10.4

89.5 ± .8.1

86.2 ± 10.4

81.4 ± 13.6

 < 0.001

ADL score

 28

404 (96.9)

166 (98.8)

187 (93.9)

51 (89.5)

0.002

  < 28

13 (3.1)

2 (1.2)

5 (2.6)

6 (10.5)

GDS score

  ≤ 5

383 (91.8)

160 (95.2)

178 (92.7)

45 (78.9)

 < 0.001

  > 5

34 (8.2)

8 (4.8)

14 (7.3)

12 (21.1)

Cognitive measures

 MMSE score

24.7 ± 2.4

25.3 ± 2.1

24.7 ± 2.1

23.1 ± 3.3

 < 0.001

MDRS domains

 Attention

36.4 ± 0.9

36.5 ± 0.7

36.4 ± 0.9

36.2 ± 1.0

0.333

 Conceptualization

36.4 ± 2.5

36.4 ± 2.6

36.6 ± 2.5

35.6 ± 2.4

0.006

 Construction

5.7 ± 0.5

5.8 ± 0.5

5.7 ± 0.6

5.7 ± 0.6

0.382

 Initiation/perseveration

33.3 ± 4.1

33.6 ± 3.9

33.3 ± 4.0

32.0 ± 4.9

0.081

 Memory

23.5 ± 2.0

23.8 ± 1.9

23.5 ± 1.8

22.7 ± 2.8

0.019

DSST score

39.2 ± 12.8

41.2 ± 11.5

40.0 ± 12.7

30.2 ± 13.3

 < 0.001

Gait characteristics

 Velocity (cm/s)

115.0 ± 21.8

120.5 ± 20.9

114.7 ± 20.2

100.0 ± 22.3

 < 0.001

 Cadence (steps/min)

111.1 ± 11.3

112.8 ± 10.8

111.0 ± 10.5

106.5 ± 13.8

0.001

 Step width (cm)

63.2 ± 8.2

65.2 ± 7.8

63.1 ± 7.9

57.5 ± 8.2

 < 0.001

 Stride length (cm)

124.0 ± 16.9

128.3 ± 15.8

123.9 ± 16.2

112.2 ± 16.5

 < 0.001

 Stride length variability (%)

2.4 ± 2.0

2.2 ± 1.8

2.4 ± 2.1

3.0 ± 2.1

0.011

 Stride time variability (%)

2.4 ± 1.8

2.2 ± 1.7

2.3 ± 1.9

3.3 ± 1.9

 < 0.001

 Swing time variability (%)

4.5 ± 3.5

4.4 ± 3.4

4.2 ± 3.3

6.1 ± 4.2

0.002

 Double-support time variability (%)

5.7 ± 4.1

5.2 ± 3.6

5.9 ± 4.1

6.9 ± 5.1

0.041