Prospective association of social frailty with incident motoric cognitive risk syndrome among middle-aged and older adults.

BACKGROUND The prospective association between social frailty and motoric cognitive risk syndrome in China is understudied.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prospective association between social frailty and motoric cognitive risk syndrome among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.

METHODS Data were derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, 2011-2015. The sample comprised 3373 adults aged ≥45 years without motoric cognitive risk syndrome at baseline (2011). Social frailty was constructed from five indicators and categorized into three levels: robust, pre-frail, and frail. Motoric cognitive risk syndrome was defined as concurrent slow gait and subjective cognitive complaint at the 2013 and/or 2015 follow-ups. Associations were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models with sequential adjustment.

RESULTS After multivariate adjustment, compared with the robust group, pre-frailty (HR 1.63; 95% CI 1.12-2.36) and frailty (HR 2.02; 95% CI 1.38-2.96) were associated with a higher risk of incident motoric cognitive risk syndrome. In sex-stratified analyses, associations were stronger in males, whereas among females only frailty was significantly associated with a higher risk.

CONCLUSIONS Social frailty was associated with subsequent motoric cognitive risk syndrome in Chinese middle-aged and older adults, supporting social-risk screening and interventions.