Frailty syndrome diagnosed according to the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures criteria and mortality in older outpatients suffering from Alzheimer's disease: A one-year prospective cohort study

Objective: The frailty syndrome is associated with adverse clinical outcomes independently of cognitive impairment. The recent easy-to-apply Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) criteria for frailty could be useful to diagnose such syndrome also in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. The aim of this study was to apply these criteria among AD outpatients in order to determine: (i) the prevalence and correlates of frailty and (ii) the one-year predictors of death in this population. Method: This prospective cohort study enrolled 109 community-dwelling outpatients aged 65+ (median age 84 years) consecutively diagnosed with AD at a geriatric outpatient service in Italy in 2009. At baseline, participants underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment including the evaluation of frailty status by means of the SOF criteria. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to find correlates of frailty. At a one-year follow-up, data on mortality were available for 95 participants and predictors of death were e...