An international study led by a University of Queensland researcher has found frailty increases a person's risk of dementia, but early intervention may be the key to prevention. Dr. David Ward from the Centre for Health Services Research tracked the data of nearly 30,000 participants of 4 longitudinal studies in the United Kingdom and the United States, enabling researchers to detect changes in people's health and function 20 years before they were diagnosed with dementia.
"The accumulation of age-related conditions is indicative of increasing frailty, which we found accelerates up to 9 years prior to a dementia diagnosis," Dr. Ward said. "Our findings show with every 4-5 additional health problems there is on average a 40% higher risk of developing dementia, while for people who are fitter the risk is lower.
"This suggests frailty is not merely a consequence of undetected dementia but contributes to its onset." Frailty is a health state related to ageing where multiple organ systems lose their resilience, making individuals more likely to experience adverse health outcomes like falls, disability and hospitalisation. "People age at different rates and the number of health problems that accumulate is captured by their degree of frailty," Dr Ward said.
"By understanding the connection between ageing, frailty and dementia we can use targeted intervention strategies to reduce risk and improve quality of life." "This finding supports integrating frailty screening into routine chec.