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2D:4D digit ratio is associated with cognitive decline but not frailty in community-dwelling older adults
Celina Gonçalves1,2, Tiago Coelho1, Sérgio Machado3
1Laboratório de Reabilitação Psicossocial, Escola Superior de Saúde do Instituto Politécnico do Porto e Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Objectives:
To understand the relation between 2D:4D ratio, frailty, and cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly people.
Methods:
A total of 175 community-dwelling elderly people were included. To determine frailty, participants completed the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-FI). Cognitive functioning was determined using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). 2D and 4D finger lengths of each hand were measured using a scanner. Barthel Index, Lawton, and Brody scale were also completed for each participant to determine the level of daily living functioning.
Results:
We did not find any correlations between 2D:4D ratio and frailty measures. We found a significant correlation between 2D:4D ratio and MMSE scores in the women sampled.
Conclusions:
We cannot ascertain any contribution of prenatal exposure to androgens to the frailty status of community-dwelling elderly people. We found that reduced prenatal exposure to testosterone in women may contribute to the prevention of cognitive decline in elderly women.