Number of ideas in spontaneous speech predicts cognitive impairment and frailty in community-dwelling older adults nine years later.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between linguistic parameters in spontaneous speech at baseline and cognitive impairment and frailty nine years later. METHODS: A prospective analysis was carried out on data of the Frailty in Brazilian Older People Study (FIBRA) Study, a population-based study on frailty. From a probabilistic sample of 384 individuals aged 65 and older at baseline (2008-2009), 124 aged 73 years and older at follow-up were selected, as they had scored above the cutoff values of cognitive screening for dementia adjusted by years of schooling at baseline and had answered to the question What is healthy aging and had no frailty at baseline. Verbal responses were submitted to content analysis and had its ideas and words counted. Number of ideas corresponded to the frequency of meaning categories and number of words to all identified significant textual elements in the text constituted by the sample answers to that question. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analyses, controlling for the effects of age, sex, and education, showed that individuals with a high number of ideas at baseline had lower chance of having cognitive impairment (OR = 0.39; 95% CI 0.22 - 0.69) and frailty (OR 0.66; 95% CI 0.44 - 0.99) nine years later than those with low number of ideas. CONCLUSIONS: Higher number of ideas, but not number of words, in spontaneous speech seems to be associated to a more positive prognosis in mental and physical health nine years later. Linguistic markers may be used to predict cognitive impairment and frailty in older individuals.

Three definitions of probable sarcopenia and associations with falls and functional disability among community-dwelling older adults

Objectives@#To assess the prevalence of probable sarcopenia according to 3 different definitions (“strength, assistance with walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, falls”- SARC-F score, low grip strength, and the guidelines indicated by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 - EWGSOP2) and assess the association of probable sarcopenia with functional disability and falls among community-dwelling older adults. @*Methods@#Cross-sectional study with 419 older adults. Probable sarcopenia was assessed by 3 definitions: a SARC-F 4, low grip strength (< 27 kg for men and < 16 kg for women), and the EWGSOP2 criteria. Associations were investigated using Pearson's chi-square test and prevalence ratios were estimated by Poisson regression (P < 0.05). @*Results@#Of the total, probable sarcopenia was identified in 23.0% of participants (SARC-F 4 score), 33.7% (low grip strength), and 10.4% (EWGSOP2) according to each different definition. In adjusted regression models, having at least 1 instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disability and having fallen in the last 12 months were significantly associated with a SARC-F 4 (prevalence ratio, PR ¼ 1.60; and PR ¼ 2.50, respectively) and EWGSOP2 (PR ¼ 1.78; and PR ¼ 2.19, respectively). @*Conclusions@#IADL disability and falls were associated with a SARC-F 4 and the EWGSOP2 criteria (SARC-F 4 and low grip strength). Probable sarcopenia may be used in clinical practice in order to facilitate the diagnosis of definite sarcopenia and to implement early interventions that could prevent functional decline and falls in older people.

Three definitions of probable sarcopenia and associations with falls and functional disability among community-dwelling older adults

Objectives@#To assess the prevalence of probable sarcopenia according to 3 different definitions (“strength, assistance with walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, falls”- SARC-F score, low grip strength, and the guidelines indicated by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 - EWGSOP2) and assess the association of probable sarcopenia with functional disability and falls among community-dwelling older adults. @*Methods@#Cross-sectional study with 419 older adults. Probable sarcopenia was assessed by 3 definitions: a SARC-F 4, low grip strength (< 27 kg for men and < 16 kg for women), and the EWGSOP2 criteria. Associations were investigated using Pearson's chi-square test and prevalence ratios were estimated by Poisson regression (P < 0.05). @*Results@#Of the total, probable sarcopenia was identified in 23.0% of participants (SARC-F 4 score), 33.7% (low grip strength), and 10.4% (EWGSOP2) according to each different definition. In adjusted regression models, having at least 1 instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disability and having fallen in the last 12 months were significantly associated with a SARC-F 4 (prevalence ratio, PR ¼ 1.60; and PR ¼ 2.50, respectively) and EWGSOP2 (PR ¼ 1.78; and PR ¼ 2.19, respectively). @*Conclusions@#IADL disability and falls were associated with a SARC-F 4 and the EWGSOP2 criteria (SARC-F 4 and low grip strength). Probable sarcopenia may be used in clinical practice in order to facilitate the diagnosis of definite sarcopenia and to implement early interventions that could prevent functional decline and falls in older people.