Frailty criteria and cognitive performance are related: data from the FIBRA study in Ermelino Matarazzo, São Paulo, Brazil.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship between the CHS frailty criteria (Fried et al., 2001) and cognitive performance.

DESIGN: Cross sectional and population-based.

SETTING: Ermelino Matarazzo, a poor sub district of the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS: 384 community dwelling older adults, 65 and older.

MEASUREMENTS: Assessment of the CHS frailty criteria, the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery (memorization of 10 black and white pictures, verbal fluency animal category, and the Clock Drawing Test) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

RESULTS: Frail older adults performed significantly lower than non-frail and pre frail elderly in most cognitive variables. Grip strength and age were associated to MMSE performance, age was associated to delayed memory recall, gait speed was associated to verbal fluency and CDT performance, and education was associated to CDT performance.

CONCLUSION: Being frail may be associated with cognitive decline, thus, gerontological assessments and interventions should consider that these forms of vulnerability may occur simultaneously.